Wolverhampton council to spend £1.3m on new food waste lorries ahead of law changes

City of Wolverhampton Council said it will be buying ten new food waste collection vehicles to join its fleet of bin lorries as new government legislation requires all councils to provide weekly food waste collections to all households by April next year.

City of Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet meets to decide on the £1.3m contract on Wednesday (October 15).

The council scrapped food waste collections in 2018 as part of more than £2.4m in budget cuts and changes to waste collections and recycling services in a bid to save money.

This included moving to fortnightly bin collections and introducing charges for green waste collections.

At the time, the scrapping of food waste collections would save £500,000 a year, the council said, with “very few” households in the city using the service.

Residents were encouraged to compost their own waste and offered a £30 discount on bins.

The council said it currently collects approximately 70,000 tonnes of residual waste and 22,000 tonnes of recycling each year.

Around 30 per cent of the residual waste it collects could be food waste, it added.

The ten food waste lorries, which would last for around seven years, would be paid for using money from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs.

The lorries would cost £275,000 a year to service and buying them outright would be cheaper than leasing the vehicles, the council said.

In the cabinet report, the council said collecting food waste would “reduce environmental hazards, support cleaner neighbourhoods, and promote better hygiene standards.”

At the same cabinet meeting this week, the council is also set to approve a £12.5m contract to build a new depot and relocate its fleet of bin lorries, gritters, vans and minibuses from its existing city centre site in Culwell Street to Hickman Avenue.

The city’s taxi licensing offices would also move from the former Loxdale Primary School in Bilston.