WINCHESTER residents will get a new food waste recycling service as early as next October, it has been revealed.

A timescale has been pencilled in for the £1.8m service as the government pushes for local authorities to collect food waste from households at least once a week by 2026. 

Presenting the plans at a city council scrutiny committee on November 12, Councillor Kelsie Learney said: "The introduction of food waste collection will start from next October.

"We are already undertaking the procurement required but we do need to look at [finding] appropriate bins and caddies and we do need to find the appropriate space for the vehicles when they arrive."

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The Winchester City Council scrutiny committee on November 12 (Image: Sebastian Haw/WCC) As previously reported, the council is purchasing nine 12-tonne food waste collection trucks and an electric Refuse Collection Vehicle (RCV) that will be used by BIFFA, the service operator.

Cllr Learney continued: "The introduction of food waste collection will significantly reduce residual waste which currently goes for incineration, which has, as you know, recently become very controversial and will lead to a considerable carbon saving.

"We are keen to move forward with this sooner rather than later but in a pragmatic way which does not incur excessive costs. This is an incredibly significant change for our residents and I think that it’s important we get it right."

During the committee, questions were raised about the project by Green Party member Councillor Danny Lee.

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He said: "The costs of this service have been touched on in terms of being a little concerning, especially when […] compared with other projects. There are many studies that show food waste collection and other improvements to waste collection services save less carbon emissions than other greener and more valuable carbon reduction programmes."

When the project was given the green light in June, council leader Martin Tod said: “This is an exciting step forward. We are going to introduce a food waste service that is reliable, high-quality with excellence. Working with resident [and] ensuring we have a service that meets their needs, the environment and the state of our planet.”