A council could become the first in Britain to collect black bins just once every four weeks.
Leaked documents have revealed the potential plans by Bristol City Council, with a consultation reportedly set to begin next week.
The Green-run council needs to make savings amid rising waste service costs and also wants to improve recycling rates.
But homeowners and tenants are concerned about fly-tipping and foul-smelling bins if collections move from fortnightly to every three or four weeks.
Hannah Winter, 51, who lives in the St George area of the city, said the proposal is a “little crazy”.
“They already shrank the size of the bins and for the average family it won’t work.”
She said it would be “stinky” if people failed to use their food bins and instead put food waste in their black bins.
“They should just reinforce the importance of food bins and the other recycling ones.
“We are a family of three with one child and we would struggle. [And] I have noticed when our bins are collected, they just chuck them all together.”
Kelly Haskins, 45, said if the plans go ahead, more rubbish will be on the street as “people will be fly tipping”.
She added: “It seems bonkers. If they tried to push it to monthly it would upset a lot of people.
“Your council tax goes up every year and people are in a crisis – I wouldn’t be happy with it.
“If you are a big family that’s going to make a big difference. I think they will struggle.
“Educating people about recycling more would be more important.”
Grace Billingham, 35, also said both her children attend preschool, with one of them still using nappies, meaning her household produces more rubbish.
But Pat Moran, 47, said having the bins collected every four weeks would not affect his family “a lot”.
“We tend to be filling the recycling a lot faster than we fill the black bins. We are trying to minimise waste and we have a long way to go.”
The leaked council document was reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this week.
It said: “Through changes in regulation and increasing operational, inflation and investment costs, our waste and recycling service is facing an additional bill of £5m to £9m per year.
“Without cost reductions, we may need to reduce services and performance standards. This amount will be reduced if we can recycle more and waste less.”
It has been reported householders will be asked for their thoughts on reducing black bin days from fortnightly to every three or four weeks as part of a consultation starting on Monday – but this is yet to be announced.
Click below to see the latest South West headlines
Martin Fodor, Bristol’s environment and sustainability policy committee chair, said: “The council faces a significant challenge to ensure our city wastes less, and recycles and reuses more if we are to build a cleaner more sustainable Bristol.
“All options remain draft proposals at this stage and no decisions have been taken – and no decision will be taken on significant changes to the future of waste and recycling services in our city without consulting with residents and engaging with businesses first.”
How often are black bins emptied around the UK?
Many councils offer fortnightly collections, though some empty black bins weekly.
However, amid financial pressures, some councils – like Bristol – have been considering a change to once every three weeks.
South Gloucestershire Council approved three weekly collections this week.
Another considering the move is Cheshire East Council, which has cited the need to save £91m over the next four years to prevent bankruptcy.
However, the plan has proved hugely unpopular, with 84% of the 6,257 people who responded to a public consultation being objectors.
A council report said people were concerned by “an increase in vermin, pests and smells” due to overflowing bins, adding: “An increase in fly-tipping and contamination of other bins were also raised as concerns, especially since the recent closure of some of the local HWRC [household waste recycling centre] sites and the introduction of the booking system at the weekend.”