Over two million people across England have been left with rubbish piling up after Labour dropped a pledge to maintain fortnightly collections.
Councils across England are switching to having non-recyclable waste picked up every three weeks.
Residents living in Hertfordshire have branded the new system as "chaotic" after Labour ministers quietly dropped a manifesto plan in December 2024.
Over the next nine months, around 1,800,000 people will lose fortnightly collections after authorities in Berkshire, Essex, Sussex, Suffolk, Cheshire and Lancashire all decided to implement the changes.
To add insult to injury, many of the local authorities have increased council tax bills by the maximum amount this year
North Hertfordshire Council, which is run on a Labour minority, has seen its council tax rise by 2.99 per cent, going to three weekly collections in August of this year.
Conservative-led Braintree Council saw a 2.97 per cent increase in council tax, with the Essex local authority going to three weekly collections in June next year.
Earlier this year, Green-led Bristol City Council was met with backlash after it proposed emptying black bins every four weeks, eventually climbing down on the policy.
Middlesex Council introduced the new bin scheme in 2021
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Braintree District Council said nearly 40 per cent of rubbish thrown in residual waste bins could be recycled, while just a third of discarded food is going in caddies.
Deputy Leader Councillor Tom Cunningham said: "We know change on this scale will be a challenge, but we also know that most of us would like to see as much recycled as possible."
North Herts Council’s executive member for environment Amy Allen insisted last month's changes had received 'a really positive response'.
She told MailOnline: "Many residents have told us they’re pleasantly surprised at how much more space this has freed up in their general waste bin, which gives them confidence about managing with a three-weekly collection."
The new bin scheme has caused confusion in towns across the country
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However, Taxpayer Alliance Investigations Campaign Manager, Joanna Marchong, said: "Millions of households are now set to see their bins collected less often, yet their council tax bills keep rising.
"Residents will rightly feel short-changed, paying more for less while they grapple with growing mountains of waste.
"Instead of cutting core services, councils should be getting a grip on wasteful spending and focusing on delivering the basics.'
The previous Conservative Government led by Rishi Sunak was planning statutory guidance that would require councils to "provide a minimum standard of a fortnightly collection for residual waste" in order to "avoid malodour and attracting vermin."
Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner MP David Simmonds said Labour are 'letting local residents down'
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Shadow Local Government Minister David Simmonds said: "Labour are letting local residents down across the country.
"Bin collections are an absolutely basic service that everyone should be able to rely on."
The MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner added: "We worked to ensure regular bin collections when we were in government.
"But Labour are going in the opposite direction."
New guidance from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) reads "waste collection authorities should continue to decide collection frequency and methodology for collecting the residual (non-recyclable waste)."
It adds: "Waste collection authorities should continue to monitor any changes to collection frequencies to make sure there are no unintended consequences."
A Defra spokeswoman said: "This Government will end the postcode lottery of bin collections.
"From March next year, every household in England will receive weekly food waste collections and will have the same materials collected for recycling, ending the throw away society and cleaning up our streets for good."