Major bin collection changes in city approved

Weekly collections for black general waste bins have been scrapped

Major changes to waste collections in Leicester have been approved.

Under the new rules, weekly pick-ups for general waste and recycling will be reduced to every other week.

City households will also get multiple new bins, and new food waste collections will be added to the rota.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said the changes had been on the cards for a while, but had now been formally approved by city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby.

New government rules require every local waste authority to introduce food waste collections by April next year.

The move is intended to reduce the amount of food waste "needlessly lost to landfill", with expectations it could be used to generate more sustainable energy and, by extension, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the government has said.

What are the changes?

Most Leicester homes will have three outside bins once the changes are fully implemented.

Each home will have its current black general waste bin, a new blue recycling bin to replace the current orange bag system, and a new food waste bin.

The new food waste bin, which will be smaller than the current black bins, will be provided with a kitchen caddy bin.

With general waste and recycling now being collected every other week, food waste collections will take place weekly, the council said.

Weekly food collections are expected to be in operation by April 2026, with fortnightly black bin and recycling collections following about two years later.

The council's current contract with waste company Biffa expires in May 2028, with the new collections expected to be brought in through a new waste contract.

Flats with communal waste collection points will keep their current bespoke arrangements, the authority said.

Leicester City Council said 60% of its households currently do not fill their black bins each week, and about 40% of the rubbish in them was food waste.

The authority has said changes to its wider waste service are "essential to minimise future cost increases".