Food waste bin roll-out pushed back to 2027

Plans to introduce food waste bins in North West Leicestershire have been pushed back to next year.

Roll-out had been due to start in November but the district council said there had been an issue with the contract to produce and supply the new two-wheeled bins.

The authority said there had also been an unexpected delay to the delivery of the new fleet of food waste collection vehicles "caused by worsening global manufacturing and supply chain constraints".

Amanda Hack, Labour MP for North West Leicestershire, said she was "not made aware of any problems and was instead reassured that the roll-out remained on track".

Michael Whyatt, leader of the authority, which is controlled by a Conservative, Liberal Democrat and independent alliance, said: "It is frustrating we have had to delay our plans to launch the new collection into next year because of issues with the production and delivery of the new bins and food waste collection vehicles that were beyond our control.

"However, we are working hard with our partners to plan ahead and get everything ready to begin the first phase of the rollout from early 2027."

The roll-out is due to include homes in Coalville, Whitwick, New Swannington, Hugglescote and Thringstone.

The opposition Labour group at the council questioned whether the authority could have told residents about the delay sooner.

Group leader John Legry said: "If there were problems months ago, residents deserved to know months ago.

"We need the council to come clean about the timeline, the warnings it received and why residents were not properly informed."

In response, Andy Barton, strategic director for housing and community services, said: "To make sure our messages to the public were as clear as possible - which is so important when dealing with a change as big as this - we waited until we had absolutely clarity on what was happening, otherwise we would have risked confusing the situation further."

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