SDDC sets June start date for weekly food waste collections

South Derbyshire District Council is preparing to introduce weekly food waste collections for all households this June.

The new service is scheduled to launch on 1 June 2026, in line with the Government’s Simpler Recycling Reforms, which introduced a statutory requirement for councils to collect food waste separately.

The UK generates approximately 9.5–9.6 million tonnes of food waste each year, enough to fill Wembley Stadium around eight times over. The Simpler Recycling Reforms aim to make recycling easier and more consistent, allowing people to recycle the same materials across England whether at home, work or school, without needing to check different local rules. Under the reforms, a universal standard will ensure that all materials that can be collected for household recycling are collected in every region.

Weekly food waste collections will become mandatory across England from spring 2026. As this change is being introduced nationwide, councils are experiencing increased demand for collection vehicles, food waste caddies and trained staff.

Due to these national pressures on supply, South Derbyshire District Council is currently still awaiting the delivery of new, purpose‑built food waste collection vehicles. We recently informed DEFRA (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) of this service impact, and plans for local collections in South Derbyshire to begin in June rather than April.

Teams across the Council are working hard to ensure the new service is introduced as soon as possible, with plans to be ready by June 2026 remaining on track.

Cllr Stephen Taylor, Chair of the Environmental and Development Services Committee at South Derbyshire District Council, said:

“In South Derbyshire we have collected food waste as part of our fortnightly garden waste collections for some time, so we know there are many residents out there who already have good food waste recycling habits.

“The national introduction of these statutory collections brings with it some huge changes for our operational teams, and some new expectations of our residents when it comes to presenting their food waste weekly, in new food waste caddies. I’m confident that this will in time just become part of our day-to-day and will of course be beneficial to the environment.”

South Derbyshire District Council will be rolling out weekly food waste collections for residents in June 2026, with the new caddies being delivered from early April 2026.

Ends

13 February 2026