Residents to get new bins for food scrapings

COLLECTIONS TO BEGIN IN SPRING 2026

- WILLIAM TELFORD

PLYMOUTH households will have to put their food scrapings in a separate bin under a £2.3m city council scheme. About 123,000 city homes will be given two new food waste bins: one for the kitchen, and another to go out on the street.

This will be in addition to the regular brown waste bins, green recycle bins and black garden waste bins. The authority will also have to buy 10 new non-electric bin lorries.

The weekly collections are expected to begin in the spring of 2026. It means that residents will have to separate leftovers and peelings from rubbish bound for the brown bin, allowing this waste to be processed separately and converted into renewable energy.

The scheme, ordered by the Labour Government, will initially cost £2,296,779, of which £1,941,574 will come from a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) grant. But the council will have to borrow £355,205 towards the initiative.