Rubbish piles up in Selly Oak streets months after last collection

Students living on a Selly Oak street say it is like living in an open-air landfill, with overflowing wheelie bins and bags of rubbish lining the road since August.

Hubert Road, where mostly students live, has been littered with rubbish for weeks, and nearby streets including Tiverton Road have also been affected, residents say.

"Like living in a landfill"

Millie-Jae Homer, 20, who studies film-making at Birmingham City University, said she has to dodge bin bags every time she walks to the station.

"It's like living in a landfill, especially when you are walking to the train station when you are dodging bin bags," she said. "It's terrible. It wasn't this bad when I was looking for houses this time last year."

"I think they were last collected at the beginning of August because we heard the bin men and when we looked out, they were not taken."

Storing rubbish indoors

Part of the problem, she said, is that other people fill her household's wheelie bin, leaving no room for their own rubbish. She does not want to leave bags on the pavement, so she keeps it inside the house until it becomes too much, or gives it to her aunt to take away when she visits.

"I don't want to go out and put the rubbish on the ground, so I store it in my house which makes it smell. I think most students are doing that," she said. "My aunt lives in Halesowen and drops shopping off and takes my rubbish."

The bin strike goes on

The scenes are a reminder of the worst days of the bin strike, which began in January 2025 and is still not over. The council leader has said a deal to end the dispute is with the council's auditors, and there is growing hope it could go to the cabinet and union members by the end of the month.

The council is also looking at moving the whole city to fortnightly general waste collections, with weekly food waste and a second recycling bin, after pilots this year.

Student areas

Areas with many shared student houses often struggle with rubbish, especially at the start and end of the academic year when people move in and out. A house of five or six students can produce far more waste than a single family, and bins can quickly overflow if collections are missed.

Universities and students' unions encourage students to find out their collection days, use recycling bins properly and report missed collections to the council. Leaving bags on the street can attract rats and foxes and lead to fines.

How to report a missed collection

Missed bin collections can be reported to Birmingham City Council online, and fly-tipping should be reported separately so it can be cleared.

Birmingham Live has asked the council why Hubert Road has been missed.