Council agrees £3 million for weekly food waste collection

Around £3 million for new waste collection services has been green lit by Arun District Council.

The council’s environment committeeatitsmeetingontuesday, March 19, agreed to offer a newweeklyfoodwastecollection service by February 1, 2026. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) willgrantthecouncil£1.67million for new vehicles and food waste bins,whilst£1.2millionwillbesecuredthroughborrowingtofund new 180 litre residual waste bins, according to a report to the committee. According to the report, day-to-day costs to the council of the new service are expected to be £1.25 million, with DEFRA expected to fund any extra costs of the service. The new food waste service will include a five litre bin inside,anda23litrebinoutsideto becollectedweekly,followingthe 1-2-3trialfoodwastecollectionin Littlehampton which started in 2021.

The report says the new residual waste bins, used for nonrecyclablewaste,willbecollected fortnightlyinsteadofweekly,and is hoped to ‘standardise’ rubbish collectioninarun.phillippabower(con,eastpreston)saidshewas ‘concerned’aboutborrowingfurthermoneyfornewbinsandthat itwouldbe‘fiscallyirresponsible’, saying the council’s waste collectionhasbeengoing‘perfectlywell’ for years. The council’s Group Head of Finance Antony Baden said the council’s proportion of borrowing to income with the borrowing would still be ‘quite low’, adding that future savings made could potentially pay for the bins instead.

Terry Penhaligon, a consultantforthecouncil,saidtheannualpotentialsavings‘rackupquite substantially’, with the council expecting to save £500,000 a year from the changes. Through changes to the Environment Act 2021 by national government, councils responsible for waste collection will need to introduce food waste collection services by April 1, 2026.

The council voted in 2022 not tointroducefoodwastecollection and updated recycling services, with the then Conservative administrationsayingitwaswaiting for ‘new burdens funding’ from DEFRA for the service once legislation was changed. The DEFRA grant and extra borrowing will have to be approved by the policy and finance committee and then byfullcouncil,beforebeingadded to the 2025/26 budget. New kerbside coffee pod, textiles and battery collection services will also be introduced by February.