New weekly food waste and recycling collections to be rolled out in 2026

Changes to how Darlington residents will dispose food waste and recycle rubbish have been approved.

New weekly food waste and recycling collections will be introduced, as part of a new scheme expected to start in 2026. Residents will receive a small caddy bin to keep in their kitchen for food waste and a 23L bin for outside.

Households will also receive 52 compostable caddy liners for the first year of the scheme. Once the caddy is full, residents will be asked to empty it into the new outside food waste bin.

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The food waste to be collected will include:

• all uneaten food and plate scrapings

• dairy products

• bread, cake, pastries

• raw meat, cooked meat, bones

• tea bags, ground coffee

• raw and cooked vegetables, fruit and peelings

• raw and cooked fish, fish bones

• rice, pasta, beans.

General household waste will continue to be collected once a fortnight. The changes will be introduced by the end of March 2026 as part of mandatory measures under the Environment Act, which requires all local councils to collect food waste weekly from all residential properties.

Libby McCollom, Darlington Council cabinet member for local services, said: "Although there will be no changes until 2026, and funding has not yet been finalised, we need to decide how collections will work in Darlington so the right processes and systems can be put in place. By introducing weekly recycling, alongside food waste collections, I hope this preferred option sets the direction of travel, while making it easy for residents and helping to increase recycling rates.

"The Environment Act has a broad remit to improve air and water quality, protect wildlife and increase recycling and reduce plastic waste. It requires us by law, to introduce household food waste collections, which already take place in many towns and cities across the country."

The new collection methods were approved by council cabinet members on Tuesday, January 7 after scrutiny from councillors last year. Praising the new system, councillor Matthew Snedker said it will improve waste management throughout the borough.

He said: "There's many things that council's do for residents but it's very important that they don't get the bins wrong. For us to make these changes to comply with the law was not an easy task to do."