Councils in England will be supported with up to £295 million in
funding to introduce weekly food waste collections by 31 March
2026, Recycling Minister announced today (Monday 25
March).
New funding will cover new food waste containers for homes and
specialist collection vehicles, targeted at local authorities
that have yet to fully put food waste service in place.
Over ten million tonnes of food is wasted every year in the UK,
with much sent to landfill. Separate collections of food waste
from every household will prevent contamination of other waste
which could be usefully recycled, as well as ensuring that food
waste can be sent to anaerobic digestion facilities rather than
needlessly lost to landfill. Directing food waste to these plants
will generate more sustainable energy to power homes and
businesses, and cut down the more than 18 million tonnes of
greenhouse gas emissions associated with this waste.
Recycling Minister said:
Weekly food waste collections are a central plank in delivering a
simpler, easier recycling system for all. It will help to stop
food waste heading to landfill and support our goals of tackling
both waste and climate change.
We’re backing councils with new funding to ensure the nation can
benefit and recycle more.
Claire Shrewsbury, Director of Insights and Innovations
WRAP, said:
Weekly food waste collections will give recycling in England an
important boost and help reduce the impact of food waste on
climate change. Our research shows that when food waste
collections are introduced, and people see how much food goes to
waste in their home, they want to do something about it. And with
food waste costing a household of four around £1,000 a year,
weekly collections will not only help prevent food waste in the
first place, but utilise the food waste collected to generate
green energy and compost.
The funding is part of the government’s Simpler Recycling
plans – meaning that people across England will be able to
recycle the same materials, and ending the confusing patchwork of
rules governing what can and can’t be recycled in different parts
of the country.
A central pillar of these reforms will see weekly collections of
food waste rolled out for most households across England by 2026,
cutting food waste heading to landfill while also ensuring smelly
waste no longer sits for weeks in people’s bins.
Defra developed the funding formula for local authorities in
collaboration with WRAP, and engaged closely with local authority
organisations to discuss the approach.
The financial model which underpins the formula accounts for a
number of variables including rurality, levels of deprivation,
number of kerbside and flatted properties, configuration of
flatted properties, food waste yields, vehicle and container unit
costs, and average collection round sizes. The model also takes
into account the extent of existing food waste collection in each
local authority.
We continue to work closely with local authorities and stand
ready to help them further to deliver our reforms. A full list of
funding by local authority is available here.
