When will food waste recycling start where I live?

A number of councils have delayed the start of food waste collections.

The government had set a deadline of 31 March for local authorities to introduce a weekly kerbside recycling service.

Only three in the North East and Cumbria have started a full service, with two more beginning this week.

The remaining 10 councils in the region have either been granted extensions or have delayed their start dates.

Food waste collections are becoming mandatory for a number of reasons, including improving national recycling rates.

Around 10 million tonnes of food is thrown away in the UK every year, which is about £1,000 worth for an average family.

Recycling food waste reduces the amount of rubbish rotting in landfill sites and contributing to carbon emissions. It can also be used to produce electricity.

According to the organisation Wrap, one kitchen caddy full of food waste can produce enough electricity to charge a tablet five times.

It is also hoped that collecting leftovers will make people more aware of the amount of food they throw away, and ultimately discourage waste.

So what is the situation where you live?

Three councils on Teesside are already recycling food waste: Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton.

Middlesbrough Council had hoped to meet the March deadline but said it was on track to start food waste collections in July.

Darlington Council is introducing weekly food collections this month. Earlier this year, the council had predicted it would be running the collections by the March deadline.

It said all homes should now have a food caddy, food bin and a roll of liners, with collections due to begin across Darlington on Tuesday.

Durham County Council collections will be phased in from Tuesday, initially in the south of the county. The north of the county will follow and finally the east.

Head of environment James Gilchrist said: "Your caddy might arrive one week, but it might not be collected for another two weeks."

Leaflets inside each caddy will detail collection dates and what can be recycled.

Gilchrist said the size of the county had brought its challenges.

"We have 250,000 households. It's meant recruiting a lot of staff, buying a lot of vehicles. But we always had a plan of June and we're on target for that."

Newcastle City Council had hoped to meet the 31 March deadline.

It began trialling food waste collections in 2024, extending it to just over 5,500 in January.

However, the authority said the full rollout date is dependent on securing the necessary vehicles, bins and staff.

It said the vehicles are currently in procurement but they are awaiting a delivery date. It expects to begin a full service later in the year.

North Tyneside Council had hoped to introduce food waste collections in April but the authority has delayed the launch until summer.

A council spokesperson said: "Like many other councils across the country, our rollout has been delayed due to some supply chain issues. Residents will be notified in advance when the service is due to start in their area."

Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland councils have all been granted an extension until 2039.

All three already have a long-term arrangement in place for processing household waste, including food waste, that complies with the government's objective of diverting biodegradable waste away from landfill.

All household waste the three councils collect is sent to an energy-from-waste facility, where it is used to create electricity.

In a joint statement, they said: "Maintaining our current arrangement avoids the environmental impact of introducing an additional weekly collection.

"We also potentially save money as there's no immediate need to buy new bin lorries."

Northumberland County Council was the first in the BBC Look North region to trial food waste recycling in 2022.

After that trial, it warned it would be impossible to rollout the government's mandatory food waste collection service to all households in the county by the deadline, due to a lack of funding.

The authority has since been granted the shortfall required from Defra.

Weekly kerbside food waste collections are due to begin from autumn.

The council aims to start with about 90,000 households in south-east Northumberland, Morpeth, Pegswood and Ponteland.

A spokesperson added that a county-wide rollout would depend on securing additional funding in the next financial year.

Both Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council have been granted extensions to weekly kerbside recycling schemes until 2034.

This is because of their existing waste management contracts, which are due to expire in 2034.

Food waste collected in Cumbria as part of the general waste collection already gets re-processed and does not go directly to landfill.

The government also recognised that both authorities are relatively new and are working on harmonising services.

North Yorkshire County Council has been granted an extension until 2043 because of its existing waste management arrangement.

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