NI council urged to recoup costs after stepping in to support Bryson bin collections

A Northern Ireland council has been urged to recoup ratepayers’ money after stepping in to support a struggling bin collection service.

An environment committee report presented this week revealed that Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) staff and vehicles assisted Bryson Recycling with collections at around 20,000 properties for approximately a week in January.

According to the report, the council’s intervention has now enabled Bryson Recycling to return to “business as usual”.

Lisburn North independent councillor Gary Hynds told the committee that the issue of council support had been raised previously.

“Councillor Givan had mentioned such council action at an earlier committee, but it was said that we did not have the resources,” he said.

“Is such intervention by the council sustainable in the future?”

Members were also told by senior management that Bryson Recycling has been experiencing a “period of disruption since August 2025”.

Bryson Recycling, which is responsible for bin collections from around 160,000 households across four council areas, has previously cited “unprecedented illness” among its driving staff as the cause of ongoing delays.

At the January environment committee meeting, Lisburn North DUP councillor Alan Givan had suggested that council staff and lorries could potentially be offered to Bryson as support. That proposal was not supported by the chamber at the time.

However, just days later, LCCC agreed to provide operational assistance from January 13 to help Bryson Recycling recover outstanding recycling collections.

Castlereagh South Sinn Féin councillor Daniel Bassett welcomed the move, saying: “I want to say a huge thank you to the council’s environmental services.

“I’m glad Bryson has acknowledged its difficulties and put in place a recovery plan to increase staff numbers. I would also like a breakdown of the costs to the council.”

Alliance councillor Bronagh Magee told the chamber that “there were still some areas that have had no bin collections for two weeks”.

Castlereagh South Alliance councillor Martin McKeever raised concerns about the financial implications for residents.

“I have concerns about the financial impact on ratepayers from the council stepping in,” he said.

“What assurances do we have that Bryson will repay the cost to the council and the ratepayer? I couldn’t tolerate the financial burden being placed on the ratepayer.”

In response, a council officer explained that specialist vehicles were not available at the time.

“We responded to Councillor Givan by saying that we did not have the vehicles needed for kerbside collections of separated recycling materials,” the officer said.

“As a result, we had to use open-back bin lorries where all separated waste was co-mingled in the vehicle and then had to be separated again at Mallusk recycling centre. This really was a last resort, and we would not have the resources to sustain this in the long term.”

The officer added: “Bin collections are now back to business as usual. I can assure members that there will be full reimbursement or a deduction on the council’s bill.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) contacted Bryson Recycling for comment.

A spokesperson said: “This is a contractual matter between Bryson Recycling and the council, and we cannot comment.”