Sefton Council is working closely in partnership with other councils across the Liverpool City Region (LCR), as well as Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority (MRWA), to introduce new weekly food waste collections.
Forthcoming legislation for councils across England, means all local authorities will be required by law to collect food waste from households every week. This is part of a new government plan called Simpler Recycling, which aims to make recycling easier and more consistent across the country. The goal is to reduce the amount of food going to landfill, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and turn food waste into green energy.
To ensure households benefit from the best food waste collection system, the LCR councils have been working together over the last 12 months. This has included combining their spending power to procure food waste vehicles, food caddies and caddy liners jointly to guarantee value for money.
Sefton Council along with other partner councils, will follow Liverpool & St Helens by introducing food waste collections in spring/summer of 2026.
St Helens Council, which has provided food waste collections to residents for over a decade, is refreshing its existing service. And Liverpool City Council has started Phase 1 of its roll-out to around 15,000 homes.
Weekly food waste collections will make it easy and convenient for residents to recycle their food waste. This helps to reduce the amount of waste being sent to more environmentally damaging types of disposal and instead helps to create new, clean energy. Everyone will have some inedible food waste such as eggs shells, tea bags or banana skins, so a new weekly collection not only helps reduce waste and provide an opportunity for residents to recycle more but also helps keep household bins cleaner and less full.
Lesley Worswick, Chief Executive of MRWA and Co-Lead of the LCR Waste & Resources Partnership said: “When recycled, food waste can be turned into something useful. The food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion facility where it is used to generate natural forms of energy, such as biogas, an excellent alternative to fossil fuels and a fertiliser which can be used in farming.”
Cllr Peter Harvey, Cabinet Member for Cleansing and Street Scene at Sefton Council, said: “The collection and recycling of food waste in Sefton will help reduce the impact of climate change by producing green energy and compost, while also reducing the amount of waste going to more damaging types of disposal.
“Recycling food waste is a simple step that every household can take to support our environmental goals and create a cleaner, greener borough.
“Working with our Liverpool City Region partners and MRWA, we’re ensuring a coordinated rollout that delivers real benefits for the region and helps meet national requirements.”
Jason Gooding, Acting Chief Executive of Wirral Council and joint Co-Lead highlighted: “We have worked incredibly closely as a partnership during the last year and so it is great to see our colleagues at Liverpool and St Helens moving forward with all our support. We look forward to introducing collections across the rest of the LCR next year so that all residents will have the opportunity to recycle more and contribute to the LCR’s net zero ambitions.”
People can find more information at https://recycleright.org.uk/household-food-waste-collection
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