‘Significant changes’ to bin collections to impact every home in Merseyside

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‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region.

Over the course of the next 18 months, every borough in Merseyside will introduce a new bin service in the hope of making it more efficient and more environmentally friendly.

At a Knowsley Council cabinet meeting last night (December 4), elected officials approved plans for separate food waste collections. This will be partly funded by an allocation of £1.28m from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which will allow the borough to purchase new food bins – including internal kitchen caddies, external kerbside caddies and communal bins – and food waste collection vehicles.

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From March 31 2026, councils will be legally required to collect food waste from every household and send it for recycling by either composting or anaerobic digestion. Knowsley Council said they accepted analysis which pointed to the benefits of having a local food waste treatment plan and would be working to implement new proposals in-line with government policy.

‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region. ‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region.
‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region. | Jason Wells - stock.adobe.com

Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, Councillor Shelley Powell presented the food waste system report which highlighted the environmental benefits of separate food waste collections. The report stated: “When food waste is mixed in with general waste (as it is now), it is then often sent to landfill or incinerated.

“When it is collected separately and goes through an anaerobic digestion process, it generates renewable power and produces an organic fertiliser, thereby contributing to a more circular economy.”

This policy would support the government’s aim to eliminate food waste to landfill by 2030 and also bolster the local authority’s climate emergency plan which seeks to leverage all available opportunities to reduce carbon emissions.

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‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region. ‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region.
‘Significant changes’ are set to be introduced for bin collections across Merseyside which will impact every resident in the Liverpool City Region. | Sadie Gilbert

According to the report, five of the six districts in the LCR do not provide food waste collections to residents (St Helens Council are the exception) and therefore the introduction of such a service will be a major change impacting every resident in Merseyside.

As a result, the six local authorities have been considering the range of available options for the introduction and delivery of a food waste collection and treatment service across the region.

Knowsley councillor, Shelley Powell said: “This will be a significant service change impacting all households. Therefore, it’s important that we consider all available options for the introduction and delivery of an efficient, low carbon and circular food waste collection and treatment service across the Liverpool City region.”

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Knowsley’s cabinet confirmed their support for the transition to food waste collections and exploring the potential to develop local anaerobic digestion processing capacity to treat locally generated food waste.

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