Council eyeing move to three-weekly bin collections

Some councillors said the changes could help fund a new food waste scheme

A council is looking into plans to have three-weekly bin collections instead of fortnightly in a bid to meet a food waste requirement.

Residents could see their black bins change so Cheshire East Council can adhere to its future legal requirement to introduce weekly food waste pick-ups.

Councillors were told at a meeting on Thursday that the change would help fund the new weekly food waste collection scheme for 2026 after previous government funding would not cover costs.

Concerns were raised over the potential health impact if bin collections were missed.

'Find money'

Councillor Chris O’Leary, of the Conservative party, said it would have a disproportionate impact on rural communities, because if bins were missed they would not be picked up until the next scheduled collection date - which would mean rubbish sitting in black bins for six weeks.

Conservative councillors also said the council was "jumping the gun" in including the three-weekly black bin proposal in with the public consultation on the weekly food waste collection.

This is because government guidelines suggest two-weekly black bin collections could become mandatory.

But Macclesfield councillor Ashley Farrall, of the Labour party, said the council had had the weekly food waste collections imposed on it by the previous government without adequate funding to implement it.

Committee chair Mick Warren stressed councillors were only voting on proposals to go out to public consultation, and not voting on implementing any new scheme.

The committee agreed unanimously to consult with the public.