Winchester City Council confirms the introduction of new food waste recycling service
Winchester City Council will begin introducing food waste collections for residential properties from October 2025, collecting from each household by April 2026. This will make a significant contribution - estimated to be equivalent to 1900 tonnes of carbon dioxide - to reducing carbon emissions across the district.
Food waste represents around one quarter to a third of each household’s black bin, and recycling will significantly reduce the amount sent for incineration. Instead, it will be sent for Anaerobic Digestion (AD) where it will be used to generate clean, green energy.
A recent consultation - Rethinking Recycling - undertaken by the city council showed that residents would welcome a household food waste collection, as well as wider recycling options (such as plastic pots, tubs, trays and cartons, which cannot currently be recycled in Hampshire). This is fully supported by the city council and the new food waste service will be followed by additional collections of pots, tubs, trays and cartons when the county council are able to provide the facilities for recycling them.
The city council recently ordered a fleet of nine food waste collection vehicles for the new service, all to be fuelled by hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) which offers up to 94% reduction in carbon emissions compared to using diesel. The use of HVO for the existing waste vehicles has reduced emissions quickly, while the city council plans for the investment and new infrastructure needed for a fully decarbonised waste fleet.
Councillor Kelsie Learney, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency said:
“Increasing recycling and reducing waste is a key focus of the council’s plan to go greener faster and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
"Many people are careful not to waste food but some waste, for example vegetable peelings, chicken bones or coffee grounds is unavoidable, and composting is not an option for everyone.
"Our residents are already excellent recyclers and have told us they’d like to be able to recycle more, so introducing the food waste collections is a great step forward, as is running the vehicles on low carbon HVO fuel.”