The roll-out of the new collection begins later this year ahead of a full service next Spring
Bins left on Wellngton Avenue, Wavertree
Liverpool Council has confirmed when thousands of households are to receive a brand new bin to add to their collection. More than a dozen areas across the city have been chosen to take part in a roll out of a free food waste pick-up ahead of it being made mandatory across the country from April next year.
This comes as Liverpool was recorded as having the second worst recycling rates across the UK. Liverpool Council currently sends 130,000 tonnes of general waste by train to Redcar, Cleveland where it is incinerated to generate electricity.
The city council has now advised when the homes selected will receive their new smaller grey bin and when collections will begin. Phase One of the weekly food waste collection rollout will begin in September 2025. This early implementation will be used as an opportunity to stress test the implementation of food waste from communications, caddie and liner deliveries and collections.
The selected areas will not include weekly food waste collections for properties served by communal bin collections, high rise blocks or houses in multiple occupation (HMO). Around 15,000 properties will be the first to receive the service.
Those properties have been chosen from 15 wards, including Childwall, Garston, Fazakerley West and West Derby. The other areas first in line for the new bins will be Wavertree Garden Suburb, Grassendale and Cressington, Allerton, Springwood, Mossley Hill, Everton North, East and West, Norris Green, Deysbrook, West Derby Leyfield and Yew Tree.
Those who are among the first to receive the new service will be notified from August 11 and will receive information packs, a smaller indoor bin – known as a caddy – a larger outdoor caddy, and odourless liners ahead of the launch, this is thought to be between September 8 and 11. All food waste will be able to be recycled, including leftovers, vegetable peelings, bones and teabags.
Chris Lomas, director of environmental services, presents a new food waste bin
The outdoor caddies will be pest-proof, meaning that rats, seagulls, and other unwanted pests will be unable to get inside. The new food waste collections are an additional service and will be collected on the same day as the purple and blue bins.
From September 22, waste will start being collected from the new bins at the trial addresses. There will be no changes to the existing blue and purple bin collection schedules.
Chris Lomas, Liverpool Council director of environmental services, said the city had worked alongside other local authorities in the Liverpool City Region to procure the bins. An update on the second phase of the roll-out is expected in January.
Dozens of new lorries powered by vegetable oil are also to be rolled out to help pick up the bins. Unveiling the new bins, Mr Lomas described the vehicles as “mini bin wagons” that will operate on a weekly basis to collect the waste.
Plans are also being considered to develop an 80,000-tonne processing plant within the wider Liverpool City Region. Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins, cabinet member for communities, neighbourhoods and Streetscene, said: “This is a free and additional weekly service.
“Everyone’s going to have two collections moving forward. Let’s make sure we get this really successfully rolled out.”