By William Turtle-Clark

A new weekly food waste collection service will be introduced in September 2027 following approval by Herefordshire Council's Cabinet.

It comes after the introduction of simpler recycling reforms from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which mandated that local authorities in England should provide a separate collection of food waste from every household by the 31st of March 2026.

As such, Herefordshire Council have missed the introduction date, along with a number of other councils (over 1 in 4) who did not meet the target. Nationally, these councils cited the delays as being due to demand for new specialist vehicles and funding issues.

Households across Herefordshire will be provided with kitchen caddies, an initial roll of compostable liners and outdoor food waste containers in order for food waste to be collected separately from general waste and recycling.

Preparations are underway to ensure the service can be implemented, including the procurement of new collection vehicles and containers, council depot improvements and a communications campaign to aid residents in understanding how the service will work.

It is expected that 6,500 tonnes of food waste will be collected per year where electricity will be produced as part of the treatment process as well as bio-fertiliser.

In order to help fund new collection vehicles, containers and equipment, £1.85 million in government funding has been secured.

Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, Herefordshire Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Culture and Environment, said that the "decision means we can move forward with introducing a food waste collection service that works well for residents, is practical to deliver and provides value for money."

She went on to say that "A single countywide rollout is the most cost-effective and efficient way to introduce the service. It gives us the time we need to put the right infrastructure in place and to work with residents so everyone understands how the new collections will operate before they begin in 2027."

"Recycling food waste separately will help us reduce the amount of waste in general rubbish bins, improve recycling rates and make the most of the Government funding we’ve secured to introduce this new service."