Food waste collection services set for revamp in part of Leicestershire

Food waste collection services are set to be revamped for some Leicestershire residents. New bins will form part of the move to improve recycling in the area.

The move, by Blaby District Council (BDC), will see the new system rolled out in the future across Blaby district. Ward councillor Paul Hartshorn revealed that as part of the move, each household would receive two bins - a small bin for the kitchen and a larger bin to empty the full food waste bags.

The bins will be ready for weekly collection alongside regular rubbish collections. Coun Hartshorn said: "[Blaby district] will get two bins. The larger green bin is the outdoor bin to be placed on the street with weekly rubbish collections. The smaller grey bin is a kitchen caddy to be kept in the kitchen to empty food waste into, using caddy bags which should be sold in most supermarkets. The full bags are then decanted into the larger bin."

READ MORE: 25,000 Leicestershire properties to be hit by bin collection date changes

The change is coming so that BDC will comply with the UK government’s "Simpler Recycling" plan - an initiative that means all councils in England must provide food waste collections by Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The goal is to make recycling easier and reduce food waste in landfills.

Coun Hartshorn said the move meant the Blaby district area was "finally catching up with what many other councils have been doing for almost 20 years".

Once collected, Coun Hartshorn said the food waste will be taken to Leicestershire County Council before being processed in an anaerobic digester near Hinckley. This will then be "processed into biogas and converted to electricity, with fertiliser as a by-product", according to Coun Hartshorn.

Full details on the scheme have yet to be announced. A spokeswoman for BDC said: "There will be a committee report going to the next full council meeting [Tuesday, November 19] with more information on the plans we are progressing to adopt food waste collections as directed by the government."

In an earlier version of this story, we said that the new system would be rolled out in Blaby itself. In fact, the collections will be taking place across Blaby district. We have updated the story to reflect that.

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