Councils have been urged to club together when buying refuse trucks and wheelie bins in a bid to save £70m a year.
A new report shows town halls could save £70m a year through joint procurement and more standardised processes.
It said that procuring in larger volumes with other councils could achieve savings of up to 10% on refuse trucks and 35% on bins.
According to the report, wheeled bin in England costs £5 more than it does in Germany, with councils accused of ‘wasting’ up to £250,000 of taxpayer’s money on branded bins. Local government secretary Eric Pickles said: ‘For too long rubbish town hall procurement policies have wasted taxpayer’s money as councils have worked in isolation when they should have been working together to deliver a better deal for local taxpayers.
‘Instead of cutting frontline services or introducing stealth taxes such as charges for the collection of garden rubbish, councils should be making the sensible savings such as more joint working, better procurement and new technology.’
