Plymouth City Council is taking its first steps towards introducing kerbside food waste collections.
Running across every home in the city, the weekly collections are expected to begin from Spring 2026.
It means that residents will be able to separate leftovers and peelings from rubbish bound for the brown bin, allowing this waste to be processed separately and converted into renewable energy.
The decision to begin these collections will not only help increase the city’s recycling rate but will also support the ambitions of the Council’s Net Zero Action Plan.
Councillor Tom Briars-Delve, Cabinet Member for the Environment and Climate Change, said: “I am so pleased to be introducing domestic food waste collections to Plymouth, bringing us in line with local authorities across the region in providing this valuable service.
“The benefits of this move represent positives for people and the planet. Not only will we increase our recycling rate and reduce emissions, but it will also help people to see how much food they waste and hopefully save money by changing habits.
“It’s a really exciting time and over the next year, we’ll be working with communities to help encourage households to reduce the amount of waste they produce to make an even greater environmental impact.”
In order to set up this new service, the Council has started the process of lining up the required infrastructure.
An executive decision to allocate £2.3m for the purchase of 10 new collection vehicles and internal and external caddies for all 123,000 household in the city was signed on Wednesday. The funding comes from the most part from a £2m ring-fenced DEFRA grant.
Prior to the service beginning, an extensive public engagement programme will be rolled out across the city to ensure that residents know how the service will work.
There are no current plans to change the frequency of green and brown bin collections as a result of the new service.