Food waste bins rollout on track, council says
LDRSA council's plans to introduce extra food waste collections are making "good progress", after a previous garden waste rollout was labelled a "calamity".
Middlesbrough Council said the scheme to introduce free food waste bins in April 2026 was on track, with about 50,000 food bins set to be delivered to residents.
A previous introduction of a new garden waste service in the town in spring 2024 saw issues arise over distribution problems.
The council's executive member for environment and sustainability, Peter Gavigan, said a fleet of vehicles had also been obtained for the new service.
Labour councillor Gavigan said in a report: "We have procured our fleet of vehicles, designed our collection rounds and are currently working with our procurement colleagues to procure a company to deliver approximately 50,000 caddies to domestic properties across the town."
The food caddie bins are being introduced as part of the government's Simpler Recycling scheme, which aims to create great consistency in recycled items around the country.
'Worst recyclers'
As well as food waste pick-ups beginning from April 2026, existing recycling collections will change.
Middlesbrough Council's director of environment and community services Geoff Field told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in February the town would no longer put their recycling in one bin, after stating it was one of the worst in the country for recycling.
"Everyone will be getting a different receptacle sometime in 2026 to collect that paper and cardboard separately to the other recycling," he said.
Gavigan's report added that the council was awaiting approval to go weekly with recycling collections in 2026 to ensure they conformed with the regulations introduced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Middlesbrough's garden waste collection currently stood at 20,129 subscribers with a total bin count of 22,692 bins at residential properties, generating about £856,420, Gavigan said.