Decision details

To approve placing the order for vehicles required for the introduction of weekly food waste collections across the borough.

That the Cabinet:

1.    Note Option 1b as presented within this report for collecting food waste weekly from households;

2.    Approve drawing forward £2.010m from the capital programme allocation for 2027/28-2028/29 to 2026/27 to fund the capital costs of purchasing food waste collection vehicles, subject to Council approval;

3.    Approve slippage of £0.840m in the Capital Programme allocations for Food Waste for 2025/26 into 2026/27 to fund the capital costs of purchasing food waste collection vehicles, subject to Council approval;

4.    Approve an addition of £0.130m to the capital programme in 2026/27 to fund the capital costs of purchasing food waste collection vehicles, subject to Council approval;

5.    Approve the placing of an order for 14 food waste collection vehicles in June 2025 for delivery in 2026/27, subject to the budget being confirmed; and

6.    Approve the changes to the current waste collection policy to remove the presentation of sacks alongside bins, requiring waste and recycling to be presented within wheeled bin containers provided by the Council.

Enables the council to meet the legal obligation placed on local authorities to provide a separate weekly food waste collection.

Provides the most cost-effective option based on future annualised modelled costs.

Makes use of capital already allocated in the agreed capital programme for waste fleet renewal in 2028/29.

Promotes waste minimisation, increases the amount of recyclables collected, and improves the street scene by reducing the amount of additional waste presented in sacks at the side of wheeled bins.

Purchase of standard food waste collection vehicles for separate collection – this option has been discounted due to the modelled annualised costs for providing this method of service delivery being on average a year circa £615,000 pa above baseline from 2027/28 onwards, the potential impact on residents, and the impact on waste services employees.