“If you haven’t received one, and are expecting to, by 10 April then do get in touch with us. All homes which have a kerbside or driveway bin collection should receive caddies.
“Some households won’t receive one yet though as if you’re in a shared occupancy block or maybe a large apartment block we’re still working through how these premises will receive and participate in food waste collections.”
A return of food waste collections after more than a decade away is part of a nationwide scheme, from the government, to bring back the collections everywhere.
Cabinet member for environment and community safety councillor Freddie Bailey with the food waste caddies Pic: Blog Preston
Cllr Bailey said: “We’ve been working, thanks to the likes of Duncan and the team, to get ahead on this and we have done so – with the caddies, vehicles and staffing secured.
“These weekly collections will have two big impacts, I think, the first is to try and tackle climate change as the impact methane has on the environment is huge and so if 70,000 households in the city can do their bit in reducing the amount of food waste going to landfill and instead being recycled that’s going to have an impact. Multiply that by it happening across the country and it’s a big environmental step change.
“Secondly, I think people will notice how much food they are throwing away. If you’re putting half a loaf in each week, there’s an opportunity there to buy a smaller loaf and save a bit of money. It will mean it helps people in these times where there is a cost of living crisis, while also doing good for the planet and for wallets too.
“But if you have the bins already, please pop them somewhere safe until the collections start – as there’s a reason we’re collecting the food waste weekly. We wouldn’t want those bags of food waste being sat there for weeks before we begin the collections.”
Not new to the city
Preston used to have food waste collections until around 2015-16 when they were scrapped as part of sweeping council cutbacks.
Cllr Bailey said: “That was a different financial situation due to austerity imposed by the government at the time and we had to focus on what was a statutory duty to provide – and food waste collections were not – so it made sense to remove them.
“But this scheme is different as we have cross-party support for this, it was actually proposed centrally under the previous Tory government, before the Labour government then funded it properly after councils raised concerns about our ability to bring it in. The government has given us the funding to do this, covering the vehicles, the bins and the staffing and this means we can bring back the food waste collections, but also do it on a bigger scale across the whole city.”
Mr Coward said the previous food waste scheme – which had a small green bin and a larger green caddy which was picked up kerbside – had been in use across around 15,000 households. The new bins are a grey or silver colour.
He said: “It was popular, we had good take up and I think quite a lot of people were sad to see it go. It means as well we know what needs to be done, we know what to expect and we scale that up to make it work across the city.
“Obviously a lot of people do composting already – but that does take a lot of time to do it right – so they may wish to use the food waste bins as well, or maybe there’s food waste they don’t think is right for their compost so we’ll take it away instead.”
A new bin lorry on the rounds
One of the new fleet of vehicles to collect food waste Pic: Blog Preston
The new weekly collections will see new bin lorries on the streets to undertake the pick-up of the larger caddy, which has a fully lockable lid, with two-person crews undertaking the bin rounds.
Mr Coward, who has worked for the council for 28 years, “They are much smaller than the usual bin lorries and they will operate on the same day as your usual bin collection.”
“So if your recycling or household waste bin is picked up on a Monday, your food waste bin can go out each Monday too. And you’ll see these new vehicles coming along to collect them, they operate in much the same way as the larger bin lorries although they do look a bit different due to their design.”
A bin challenge
Alongside the bin deliveries, a roll of liners is also being delivered for each household along with a leaflet with information on how to use the two bins.
Cabinet member for environment and community safety councillor Freddie Bailey aboard one of the new vehicles Pic: Blog Preston
Cllr Bailey said: “I am aware of just how much feedback and emotion the bins seem to stir, but it is important to remember it is delivered to the property. It might be you are renting, and the person who comes after you does want to use the bins.
“We will be taking a common sense approach to receiving bins back, but I’d encourage people to give it a try and they might find it really cuts down their food waste because it becomes more visible to them.”
New rolls of liners are available free of charge, either by ordering them via the council or tying a line around the handle of the bin on collection day and crews will leave some by or in your empty bin.
Mr Coward said: “You don’t have to use the liners either, a plastic bag can be used. We recommend using a bag or liner as it means it is easier to empty and keep the bins cleans.”
The council has been undertaking public briefing sessions at supermarkets and other venues across the city to inform residents about the new food waste bins.
Mr Coward said: “We’ve had a good response – people seem interested as to why they are coming in, and generally pretty positive. You often find people say and act one way online but actually in person everyone’s fairly pleasant about why it’s happening and just generally want the information so they know what to do.”
Pride in bins
Councillor Freddie Bailey with the food waste caddies Pic: Blog Preston
Cllr Bailey said the council’s track record on bins meant he was confident about how the new food waste bins would go.
He said: “We’ve always had an in-house bin collection service here and I think it’s an area of the council where people have a huge amount of confidence. This depot we’re in now dates back to the 1880s and we were doing bin collections back then.
“I’ve been out on the rounds with the teams on a number of occasions doing a shift with them and the response they get is amazing to see. People give them gifts, stop to chat, and they just genuinely have a great relationship with the community.
“Of course mistakes are made, but we go back and if a collection is missed we’ll be back there and get it done once someone calls in. We’ve not got an outsourced contract, we’re not in the kind of situation you’ve seen unfolding down in Birmingham for example with the strikes and huge piles of uncollected rubbish.
“And our crews, they look smart, they look the part – there’s no mistaking that’s our team out there doing that crucial service for residents.
“I know that Duncan and his team will be doing everything they can to ensure the food waste collections go smoothly.”
Where will our food waste go?
The food waste collections are being brought in due to the Environment Act of 2021 which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions coming from landfill. Currently food waste is burnt, alongside general waste, which creates energy from waste but this produces significant greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Instead the food waste is diverted off to be dried, composted and made into compost-like output which is used for land restoration or covering old landfill sites. This process will take place at the Lancashire County Council waste centre at Farington.
It’s estimated around 40,000 tonnes of food waste will be collected each year in Lancashire.
Got food waste bin questions?
A dedicated page on the city council’s site has details on how to use the new bins and how to contact the council if there’s any issues.
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