The holdups have also affected deliveries of garden waste sacks and new bins, but Caerphilly County Borough Council’s leader said there has been “significant progress” in addressing the backlog.
Cllr Jamie Pritchard explained many UK councils were expanding their food waste collections, and the growing demand for containers had “created unprecedented pressure on manufacturers”.
The council is encouraging more borough residents to sort their food waste in a bid to drive up overall recycling rates and avoid costly Welsh Government fines.
It has expanded an engagement and education programme, examining what goes in people’s bins and urging them to avoid throwing food waste in with residual waste – with the potential for repeat offenders to receive fines.
Cllr Pritchard said the response to the ongoing campaign and the council’s new waste strategy had been “very positive”.
“Requests for food waste caddies have increased by more than 66% driven in part by the excellent work of our recycling advisors, who have been actively engaging with residents and promoting the importance of recycling food waste,” he said. “It’s encouraging to see so many people keen to take part.”
However, the demand for food waste caddies – the containers for storing scraps at home before they are collected – has led to long waits and questions from some residents.
The council leader said he had received “numerous comments” on the matter during his most recent Q&A session with residents on Facebook.
“Following the session, I sat down with officers and discussed the problems,” he said.
“We have now received additional stock and have already made significant progress in clearing the backlog.
“We have also redeployed additional staff to support container deliveries, helping us get containers out to residents more quickly. We are currently in the process of contacting affected residents with revised delivery dates, so you know when to expect your caddy, bins and bags.”
Research conducted in 2023 found more than half of what was thrown away in a typical borough resident’s bin could actually be recycled, prompting the council to start offering free caddy liners as an incentive for people to separate their food waste.
Food waste is collected weekly, and residents can order a small indoor caddy and a larger container for kerbside collections, for free, from the council website.