Food waste collection launch postponed as council focuses on improving bin collection reliability

Cheshire East Council is postponing the rollout of weekly food waste collections as it focuses on getting its waste and recycling services back on track and ensuring reliable bin collections for its residents.

The council had been working to launch the new recycling service by late autumn, including delivering outdoor food waste caddies to households, ordering new electric collection vehicles and making the necessary changes at its waste transfer depot in Middlewich. 

However, ongoing challenges with current bin services, including shortages of HGV drivers and loading staff and vehicle breakdowns, have led to an increase in missed waste and recycling collections in recent months. 

The council has put in place a recovery and stabilisation plan to help tackle the root causes of the issues being faced. To ensure its focus remains on restoring a reliable service, the council has also taken the decision to postpone the introduction of the new food waste service until early next year.  

Councillor David Jefferay, Cheshire East Council cabinet member for environment, sustainability and waste management, said:

“Our residents rightly expect that their bins are collected on time, week in, week out. In recent months, the service they have received has fallen significantly short of that standard. 

“We are sorry, and we know the service must improve. We have a detailed plan in place to get us there, and are continuing to make good progress.  

“A significant amount of work has already taken place to get us ready for weekly food waste collections and, from an operational perspective, we have the crews, vehicles and infrastructure in place for this new service that would have allowed us to start in November. 

“However, introducing the new food waste service now would place more pressure on our wider collection operation, and risk disrupting the work we’re doing to ensure reliable services. 

“I am not prepared to jeopardise that progress and that is why I have made the decision to postpone the food waste rollout until early next year. 

“I know that many residents were keen to start using this new service and ensure more of their waste can be recycled. I want to be clear that this is a postponement and not a cancellation, and that residents should hold onto their food waste caddies.” 

The introduction of weekly food waste collections is required by Government under its Simpler Recycling legislation. 

Further communication about the new food waste service will be issued early in the new year. Residents are also asked to keep checking back to the council’s website for updates. 

Almost all food waste caddies have now been delivered. The council is aware of a small number of reported missed deliveries. These properties will be returned to in time for the new service starting. 

Residents living in a property where there are three or more flats will be provided with a communal wheelie bin instead of a caddy. Due to the postponement of the new food waste service, communal bins are now not expected to be delivered until the new year. 

Wider changes to bin collections, including the move to three-weekly black bin collections, will not happen until weekly food waste collections begin.