Council set to restore food waste collections

The authority said collecting food waste would be beneficial to the city

A council that scrapped food waste collections as part of budget cuts is set to buy new lorries for the job ahead of changes to the law.

City of Wolverhampton Council expects to spend £1.3m on 10 new food waste vehicles to join its fleet of bin lorries.

It is ahead of government legislation requiring all councils to provide weekly food waste collections to households by April.

The council, which scrapped the collections as part of £2.4m budget cuts in 2018, meets to decide the contract on Wednesday.

At the time the service was scrapped, the authority said the measure would save £500,000 a year and "very few" households in the city used it.

The cuts also included moving to fortnightly bin collections and charges for green waste collections.

Residents were encouraged to compost their own garden waste and offered a £30 discount on bins.

The authority said about 30% of 70,000 residual waste it collects each year could be food waste.

The 10 new lorries would be paid for with money from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, and buying them outright would be cheaper than leasing the vehicles, the council said.

The cabinet report added collecting food waste would "reduce environmental hazards, support cleaner neighbourhoods, and promote better hygiene standards".

The cabinet is also expected to approve a contract to build a new depot on the wholesale market site in Hickman Avenue for its bin lorries, gritters, vans and minibuses.

The city's taxi licensing offices would also move there from the former Loxdale Primary School, Bilston.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.