Dispute over financing of new food waste collections

Adur and Worthing households will have food waste collection from 2026, despite the two councils saying there is a nearly £1 million shortfall in government funding for the scheme.

Adur and Worthing councils will introduce the service from March.

Collection takes place weekly, while household waste and recycling will continue to be collected every two weeks.

The government announced that all municipalities will receive funding to cover the costs of new garbage bins and vehicles.

The law requires all local authorities to introduce kerbside recycling for private households by 31 March 2026.

In March 2024, Adur and Worthing wrote to the Government requesting funding to cover the cost of new bins and vehicles and received £227,000.

Councillors said this amount was £900,000 less than the total cost, including running costs and depot upgrades, as ten new 7.5-tonne vehicles would be needed.

For this reason, the program will be introduced gradually, giving priority to areas with the largest housing construction, the authorities said.

Households will be provided with a 7-litre container to collect waste in their kitchen, as well as a 23-litre container to empty waste into prior to collection days.

In apartment buildings, communal garbage cans with a capacity of 140 liters are available.

The councils announced that the introduction would initially be gradual, with priority given to areas with the largest housing stock due to the funding gap.

Jude Harvey, Adur’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure, said: “Introducing a weekly food waste service will go a long way towards reducing the amount of food that ends up in landfill and help us increase our recycling rates.”

Vicki Wells, Worthing’s Environment Department member, said: “Although the council has allocated sufficient funding for a phased service, I am very disappointed that we cannot afford to implement the full programme.”

The Ministry of Environment, Food and Agriculture said that municipalities had received capital funding to cover the costs of new bins and vehicles, but this did not include the cost of providing the new service.

The company also said it was calculating additional potential resources.

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