South Holland councillors are recommended to introduce 230litre wheelie bins in £3million scheme

A decision on whether to introduce wheelie bins as part of a £3million scheme is due to be made by councillors next week.

South Holland District Council’s cabinet will be determining at a special meeting on Thursday, June 26, if green and black bin bags will be replaced by wheelie bins in 2026 as a result of new legislation.

As we reported earlier this week, the Environment Act is forcing councils to make a number of changes, such as the mandatory introduction of a weekly food waste collection from March 2026 along with requirements to collect paper and card separately.

Last year, the council conducted a survey which asked a number of questions including if residents wanted to keep the current regime or move onto wheelie bins. This resulted in a narrow victory for bags when 51% of the 8,576 respondents voted in favour of keeping them but it also revealed that more than 70% of people wanted to recycle more.

South Holland’s recycling rates are much lower than other nearby authorities.

A report to next Thursday’s cabinet meeting recommends that members approve a new service which sees the introduction of 240litre bins for residual waste, recycling and paper and card along with the mandatory food waste caddy (23litres).

The report also sets out that food waste will be collected weekly with residual waste on alternate weekly basis. Recycling and paper and card will be collected on an alternate fortnightly basis.

A statement released by the council earlier today says: “The preferred option, which will be discussed alongside two other models by members, has been identified in a review as the most efficient and environmentally beneficial approach, which further supports the council's climate goals and an increase in recycling.

“The increase in recycling was a clear response South Holland residents gave last summer in a wide-ranging consultation on waste and recycling in the district. In the survey, more than 70% of people had expressed their desire to recycle more.

“The preferred option that members discuss will include larger wheeled bin sizes, which was feedback following a meeting with all South Holland councillors recently.

“During the meeting next Thursday, members will also approve the ordering of wheeled bins and vehicles and will recommend to full council plans to draw forward £3million from the capital programme provision for 2028/29 and 2030/31 into 2026/27 to fund the costs of purchasing food waste collection vehicles and wheeled bins.

“In line with Government legislation, the council will be introducing a weekly separate food waste collection for all households in the future. The move is designed to reduce landfill, cut carbon emissions, and boost recycling rates.”

The other option for waste includes the introduction of 180litre bins.

The report also states that the third option was “discounted due to the requirement to run additional fleet to enable a full round sack collection to continue. It is also considered that asking households to retain dry mixed recycling for four weeks in sacks is unlikely to improve recycling rates.”