Lincolnshire food waste collections top 165 tonnes in first week

A new chapter in household recycling has begun across parts of Lincolnshire, with more than 165 tonnes of food waste collected in the first week of the county’s new service. The early total gives a first glimpse of how residents in Lincoln, North Kesteven and West Lindsey are responding to the weekly collections, which have been introduced under national rules requiring councils in England to collect food waste separately. For many households, it marks a noticeable change to the weekly routine. Instead of scraping leftovers, peelings and out of date food into the general bin, people are now being asked to use dedicated food waste caddies.

In those first days, thousands of households across the three areas took part, according to Lincolnshire County Council. The food waste collected in Lincolnshire is being sent to an anaerobic digestion facility, where it is processed into energy and fertiliser. That means material once treated simply as rubbish is instead being put to further use, in a shift that reflects wider efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling. The rollout is not stopping there.

South Kesteven is next in line, with food waste collections due to start on Monday. Boston, East Lindsey and South Holland are also expected to follow later this year, extending the service to more communities across the county. The change comes after the government’s Simpler Recycling rules took effect on 31 March. Earlier this year, a BBC investigation found that around one in four councils expected to miss the deadline.

Among the reasons given were high demand for specialist vehicles and concerns over funding, despite more than £340m in grants from Defra. Against that backdrop, Lincolnshire’s first-week figure stands out as a strong local start, even if the practical realities of a new collection service are still bedding in. The county council has said there could be some initial teething issues while crews adjust and routes settle down. That is often the challenge with any countywide change in a place as large and varied as Lincolnshire.

Services have to work across city streets, market towns and villages, and what runs smoothly in one area can take time to fine tune in another. Even so, the first returns suggest many Lincolnshire residents have been quick to adapt. With further districts preparing to join the scheme in the coming months, the coming weeks will show whether that early momentum can be maintained. For now, the first set of figures offers something simple but significant: evidence that households across Lincolnshire are already putting substantial amounts of food waste into a separate stream, rather than sending it straight into the black bin.

This story was adapted by The Lincoln Post from original reporting by www.bbc.com.