Lorries carrying waste asked not to drive through villages and along rural roads

Lorries carrying waste for incineration will be asked not to drive through Lincolnshire villages and along rural roads any more.

Councillors say it’s ‘essential’ to keep them on A-roads and prevent problems in less built-up areas.

The change comes as Lincolnshire County Council looks for a new contractor to transport the thousands of tonnes of waste it collects.

They will be responsible for moving it from the county’s five Waste Transfer Stations, where bin lorries have brought it, to the incineration plant in North Hykeham.

Vehicles make 116 trips each week.

Coun Ian Carrington (Con) told a meeting of the council’s Executive on Tuesday (November 5) the new plans would be an improvement.

“The HGVs should follow clear routing plans,” he said.

“They will be asked to keep to the A-roads and out of rural villages and roads, except in exceptional circumstances such as road works and floods.

“It’s essential we minimise the harmful impact.”

Coun Martin Hill (Con), leader of the council, said the proposals were ‘common sense’.

However, he expressed annoyance with recent media reporting which described incineration as the dirtiest form of energy left in UK, now the last coal power station has shut down.

“It seems like a lazy assumption that incineration is bad. This is efficient and has a minimal impact on the environment,” he said.

“We must do something with our waste – we might as well turn it into electricity.”

The amount of waste the council is collecting from kerbside bins is increasing year on year.

Food waste makes up more than a quarter of everything thrown away, with each household wasting an average of 1.5 kilograms every single day.