This will go towards procuring the bins and caddies needed to collect food waste through the council’s in-house service, and the vehicles to help collect them.
The local authority launched a pilot scheme for the collection of food waste in April 2021, which covered 4,500 households.
In March 2022, a further 850 homes were added to the pilot, including a mix of urban, suburban and rural neighbourhoods.
The £1.2 million grant forms part of a wider pot of £295 million Defra said it has set aside for ‘new burdens’ funding for local authorities introducing food waste collections to comply with Simpler Recycling.
‘Great opportunity’
Portfolio holder for environment and transport, councillor Stewart Swinburn, said: “This is a great opportunity for North East Lincolnshire council to make further advancements in waste reduction and recycling.
“As well as this, it will be a massive step forward in our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. We want North East Lincolnshire to have a Green Future with a focus on achieving a circular economy, rejecting a throw-away society and making recycling a priority.
“Although this won’t be fully rolled out until 2026, there are a lot of positives to take from the successful pilot carried out in 2021 and I look forward to watching this take shape in the coming months.”
New burdens
New burdens funding is provided to local authorities through section 31 grants.
Linda Crichton, Defra’s team leader for packaging producer responsibility, told the LARAC Conference in October last year that while some of the £295 million has been secured, the remainder “will have to be subject to further Defra bids into future government spending reviews” (see letsrecycle.com story).
To find out more about food waste collections, visit the food waste conference taking place on 7 March. To find out more or to book your tickets please click here.
Subscribe for free