Delay to new food waste collections 'very frustrating'

By 31 March 2026, local authorities in England are required to introduce weekly food waste collections for most homes

Delays to the rollout of new food waste bins for homes across Herefordshire and Worcestershire are leaving councils "behind the curve", a Green councillor says.

By law, local authorities across England are required to have a weekly food waste collection service in place by April 2026. The government has argued the move will reduce discarded food.

However, complications with existing waste contracts and uncertainty over government funding mean no council in the two counties can currently commit to introducing the service on time.

Wychavon District Council has become the latest council to write to ministers to say it will not meet the deadline. Instead, it says collections will start from April 2028.

"I'm very frustrated about the wave of delays," said Tor Pingree, a Green city councillor in Worcester.

"At the moment all of our food waste… goes to the incinerator, it takes a lot of fuel to burn."

"Honestly, it's surprising to me that we haven't been collecting our food waste for a long time, many councils across the country are already doing it… we're behind the curve on this one," she said.

At present, all councils in Herefordshire and Worcestershire collect black waste bins and green recycling bins on alternate weeks.

New food waste collections - with new bins or caddies - would run alongside this, taking material to an anaerobic digester to be turned into biogas.

Tor Pingree said food waste collections were a "fantastic idea" that should be have been introduced sooner

"Food waste currently goes in your black bin… it amounts to 35% of that black bin," said Conservative councillor Emma Stokes, a district councillor in Wychavon.

"The idea is that by separating out, households will think more about what they're actually throwing away," she added.

Yet, as Wychavon's executive board member for resources, Councillor Stokes said she had decided to delay the district's food waste collection service until April 2028.

She said the move represented value for money for the taxpayer, and would prevent the council from breaching its current refuse collection contract.

"We've just asked the government to bear with us for two years to keep the contract in place," Stokes said.

"We haven't heard back from them."

Because of the government's reorganisation of local government, all of Worcestershire's districts are due to be abolished on 1 April 2028.

Stokes said she did not also want to tie in any successor local authority to a long-term waste contract.

Stephen Pain said England lagged behind other developed economies when it came to waste collections and recycling

Elsewhere in Worcestershire, Worcester City Council said its domestic food waste collection service would only be ready by Spring 2027.

Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest district councils said they were in discussions to form a joint food waste collection "as close as possible to the start of April 2026".

The three local authorities said the start date was dependent the purchase of new vehicles and food waste caddies.

Malvern Hills District Council said it would deliver the new service in-house, but said it was waiting for confirmation on revenue funding from the government.

Meanwhile, Herefordshire Council said it was still aiming to have food waste collections in place, but was unable to confirm a start date until grant funding from the government is confirmed.

Jade Churchill and Craig Betham both agreed separate food waste bins would be a "visual reminder" for residents

On the streets of Worcester, many welcomed the upcoming introduction of a new food bin, but some were sceptical how many residents would embrace them.

"I think having the option there is good for people," said Craig Betham.

"If the bin's not there then people aren't going to do it," he said.

"Some people might do it… some people probably won't do it," said Jade Churchill.

"For me, I tend to just want to save the food, so maybe I'll use it for the next day, just so it doesn't go to waste."

"Other people might do it to start with… I don't think it will always be followed," she said.

"I've lived in several countries… I think other countries have better approaches," said Stephen Pain.

A former resident of Denmark and Japan, he said England had been "backwards" in not taking the step sooner.