Janners plead 'no more plastic bin clutter' as Plymouth gears up for food recycling bins

PlymouthLive readers are not happy to hear that local households will soon be required to separate their food scraps into a separate bin as part of a £2.3m city council initiative.

Approximately 123,000 homes in the city will receive two new food waste bins - one for indoor use and another for curbside collection. This is in addition to the existing brown general waste bins, green recycling bins, and black garden waste bins.

The council will also need to invest in 10 new non-electric rubbish lorries. Weekly collections are slated to commence in spring 2026. This means residents will need to separate leftovers and peelings from other rubbish destined for the brown bin, enabling this waste to be transformed into renewable energy.

The decision to start food waste collections will contribute to increasing the city’s recycling rate and aligns with the council’s Net Zero Action Plan. The council has already begun preparations for the necessary infrastructure.

Before the service launch, a comprehensive public engagement programme will be implemented across the city to ensure residents understand how the service will operate. Currently, there are no plans to alter the frequency of green and brown bin collections due to the introduction of the new service.

Reader Plymtondave asks: “Why are house owners with gardens not being encouraged to recycle green and food waste into compost as was the case many years ago? I have done this for many, many years creating a very viable product saving huge amounts on fertilisers etc with the aid of a wormery.”

Tray589 is unhappy at the idea: “This is a joke. It's all right for someone that's got a big property. I have a flat outside. My front door is six bins from another residence. From our three flats in the summer the smell from the brown bins is really bad and you want to put food waste in their own bin? This is so unfair. In the summer I can't even open the windows on some days when the weather is hot.”

Professoraccountdeleted says: “Food waste bins have been around for years around the country, it’s about time Plymouth caught up. The council should limit the number of bins a single house can have and I think the time has come to use technology to scan and weigh bins as they are loaded onto the lorry, a higher tax for those who use the services the most.”

JanePowell disagrees: “What a ridiculous waste of money. This is not saving the environment, it is cluttering up the city and homes with plastic bins. The Council is also assuming that everybody is capable of sorting rubbish. What about children and people with dementia? What about some physically disabled people? We pay to have our rubbish collected and they can do that in one lorry once a week. If the politicians want our waste sorted then let them do it.”

StuartPlymouth agrees: “I don't want more plastic bin clutter outside my house. Any extra wheelie bin will simply join the green one in the back of my garage. All waste goes in the Brown bin in large black bags. If they want to sort through it they can do so themselves. I pay them a very large amount to take it away, not lecture me about it. I have neither the time, inclination or energy to examine refuse.”

Plymboy is worried: “This is good but will make some roadsides look a mess. Houses that have to store their bins roadside permanently will now have another to contend with. So that’s now a Green, brown, black and food waste bin. How unsightly those neighbourhoods will look.”

Plymmman says angrily: “What a complete waste of over 2 million pounds! Typical of every council we have had, they just love wasting our money. This money would be better used by putting it into social care where it’s needed most.”

PPPPPPPP agrees and asks: “How many pot holes would 2.2 million fix? How many local hard pressed children's charities would benefit from 2.2 million? How many houses in Plymouth would this build?”

Devonboy asks: “So even more lorries driving around and around, pumping out plenty of diesel fumes & adding to the traffic every day of the week picking up left over food from 50,000+ newly made plastic bins around the city to save the planet?”

Thegasman jokes: “I have my own food recycling bin, it's called a dog.”

How do you feel about the new food waste bins? Good idea or just one more thing to remember? Have your say in our comments section.