Major change to bin collections coming for homes across Liverpool

Households across Liverpool will be asked to fill up a new bin alongside the existing purple wheelie bin in the next 18 months. According to city council documents, currently around a third of what goes into our waste bin is food.

Local authority officials believe there are better ways this can be processed and are seeking to implement efforts to encourage people to use their containers more efficiently. This is also an issue that has been picked up in Westminster, as from April 2026, Liverpool Council will be providing weekly collections of food waste to every household in the city.

Members of the authority’s sustainable, safe and thriving communities committee were told how the new bin will work in partnership with efforts to “make waste useful” and improve Liverpool’s shocking recycling rates. It is thought the new waste collection will help to increase composting to produce green biogas to fuel homes and vehicles replacing fossil fuel gas and organic fertiliser to replace chemicals used in farming.

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Chris Lomas, director of environmental services, told councillors how it would work to progress towards the city’s net zero aspiration and move away from transferring large elements of waste to incineration in Redcar. Liverpool has received £3.7m to assist with the purchase of bins and associated vehicles to bring about the collections.

A committee report said the revenue costs of delivering weekly food waste collections are estimated to be between £2-3m per year. It is currently unknown whether the government will provide any new funding to help with these costs or expect local authorities to fund the services based on the premise the changes may reduce long term disposal costs.

Members were also updated on how Liverpool is the second worst performing city for recycling across the UK. A mere 18% of household waste was re-used, composted, or recycled in 2022/23, a decrease from 20.4% 12 months previously.

Work by the city council identified how 40% of rubbish thrown in the purple main bin could be recycled. If the current blue recycling bin was used correctly, the city’s recycling rate could improve to 30%

Paul Murphy, chief operating officer for Liverpool Streetscene Limited (LSSL), which manages collections on behalf of the council, said simple things such as “using reusable water bottles in Lifestyles gyms” or using resale apps like Vinted helps city rates. Mr Murphy said the development of a new recycling and waste strategy for the next five years, which is to go before cabinet in the New Year, would “make waste useful” moving forward.