Lincolnshire councils allocated £7million to bring in food waste collections for every household

All households are due to get a new food waste collection – with our councils being handed £7 million to get the scheme off the ground.

Lincolnshire County Council and the area’s seven district councils are up against the clock to bring in a new food collection scheme from March 2026 under Government reforms to boost recycling rates.

Currently, much of Lincolnshire’s black bag waste ends up being incinerated at North Hykeham to generate power for 30,000 homes – but recycling rates could be improved if food waste is diverted into anaerobic digestion, a report to Lincolnshire Waste Partnership states.

The county council, which is responsible for disposing of the waste, is also due to start seeking a ‘disposal outlet’ for the food waste collected with the possibilities of ‘opportunities’ in the north and south of Lincolnshire for locations in which to do this work.

Four of the county’s seven district councils, who are the waste collection authorities in their respective areas, have started preparation work for the scheme – with South Kesteven looking complete its new depot next summer while also challenging the Government to provide more funding. A three-year food waste trial in South Kesteven – involving 4,700 households – did not continue due to a lack of funding.

Get the news delivered straight to your inbox every morning - sign up to The Briefing here

Details are missing from South Holland District Council and its partners East Lindsey and Boston within the Food Waste Project update. It is unclear how this new mandatory food waste collection will affect the weekly black bin bags which are placed outside homes in the Spalding and Holbeach areas.

The Food Waste Project report – drafted for a waste partnership meeting on Thursday (March 28) – states that the Environment Act aims to create more recyclable waste material and reduce the amount of material being incinerated.

It says: “The diversion of food waste from the residual waste stream (currently incinerated) to Anaerobic Digestion (AD) disposal will improve the county’s recycling rate.

“Incineration is classed as recovery on the waste hierarchy, but AD is classed as recycling and it is therefore projected that a 7% improvement in the recycling rate will occur.”

To set up the food collection scheme, South Holland has been allocated around £806,891 Government cash which will fund kitchen caddies (£89,513), kerbside caddies (£205,879) and vehicles (£511,500).

South Kesteven has been assigned £1,371,150 which will cover £136,500 for kitchen caddies, £313,950 for kerbside caddies and £920,700 for vehicles. The district council, which is due to complete its new depot in summer 2025, is going to ask for an additional £383,007 as it needs 12 vehicles instead of the nine estimated by the government.

Boston is due to get £728,646 with its partner East Lindsey getting £1,44,0450 and £936,516 is going to North Kesteven.

The report states that West Lindsey, which is getting £1,023,179, has identified a suitable vehicle to handle the collections and a presentation will be going to its executive in the summer to discuss procurement.

City of Lincoln has been allocated £829,409 and is holding negotiations with its contractors about the food waste while North Kesteven councillors are due to be presented a report on the scheme at a meeting in May.

The county council is also putting together a funding application to get government money to pay for changes at its waste transfer stations, along with a new one in the Greater Lincoln area.

The report adds: “The county council is progressing with a procurement process to commence at the end of March 2024 and to conclude in July 2024, to secure a disposal outlet for the food waste collected.

“Following pre-market engagement, the intention is to split the county into two lots and create an opportunity in the north and south of the county.”

Would you welcome a food waste collection? Post a comment below...