Many Derbyshire households set to wait months longer for new food waste collection service due to a ‘litany’ of issues

South Derbyshire District Council bin lorry. Image from Eddie Bisknell.

The following report is from Eddie Bisknell – Local Democracy Reporting Service

• For more details on preparation for food waste collections in Erewash – click here

Derbyshire households could be waiting months for new weekly food waste bin collections after litany of issues have hit the impending rollout.

Reports show that at least three Derbyshire councils are having to delay their legally mandated rollout date of separate weekly food waste collections from March 30th.

Amber Valley, High Peak and South Derbyshire councils have all pushed their start dates back to June, largely due to national issues involving the delays for new bin lorries.

Each council has had to notify central government of its intended rollout delays in the hopes of avoiding any sort of penalty.

In Amber Valley, the borough council is also operating a staggered start to buy itself more time to wait for its new vehicles, hiring temporary lorries in the meantime, for up to six months.

The council said that around 12,000 households will get separate weekly food waste collections from the start of June, with a further 20,000 from November.

30,000 more households will have to wait until January next year and 206 further households will not receive their pickups until February 2027 – 10 months after the national rollout – and eight months after the first borough residents.

In Amber Valley, every household will receive a five-litre kitchen-top caddy for gathering food waste, with a 52-bag roll of biodegradable bags. This will come along with a 23-litre outdoor bin in which to empty their kitchen caddy into, ready for collection.

The borough council, which is hiring 21 additional staff to operate the extra service, is hiring two temporary vehicles at a cost of £36,000 which will run from May until September, while the authority will then purchase nine vehicles, seven 7.5 tonne and two 12-tonne in size.

Overall, the new service will cost £1.3 million a year, with Government grants paying for most of that burden, but leaving a £187,000 shortfall.

An Amber Valley report details: “The procurement of the vehicles, caddies and bins required to deliver this service is the main reason for the delay.

“As the majority of local authorities are required to implement this new waste service, this has created a delay in suppliers being able to deliver a procurement timetable for bins, caddies and vehicles to meet the March 2026 deadline – due to supply chain pressure and limited manufacturers.

“Internal procurement capacity has also created an additional challenge and delayed the roll-out as a result.”

South Derbyshire District Council is reporting a £1.2 million extra cost from the food waste collections but is listing a direct budget gap caused by the issue of £816,000 which is now trying to bridge with the end of the financial year approaching.

Of the £3.7 million cost pressures on the council’s budget, more than £2 million relates to the food waste rollout, including staffing and the need for a new depot to accommodate the extra vehicles.

The new depot, which has been signed off in a series of closed-doors meetings, with no public disclosures, is to cost £18.6 million, staggered over the next three years.

A total of £1.6 million will be funded by capital receipts – selling sites or assets – and the remaining £17 million would be borrowed, with £1.16 million in borrowing costs to be accrued over the next year.

The council has not disclosed where the new depot will be, with the existing site being on the Boardman Industrial Estate in Swadlincote.

It has said that its separate food waste collections will start from June, but that it has opted not to hire temporary vehicles in the meantime.

It said: “Delivery of the new specialist food waste collection vehicles has been delayed by manufacturers, despite early procurement and regular engagement.

“These delays remove the contingency time built into the original schedule, meaning the council cannot confidently begin collections until the vehicles arrive and are fully commissioned.

“This is a national issue affecting many councils. Authorities such as High Peak and Amber Valley have also moved their start dates to June 2026. The council has written to Defra to confirm that implementation will now begin in June rather than April.

“Hiring temporary vehicles was explored, but this would create significant extra costs with no additional Government funding.

“Delaying the start ensures a reliable and well managed service.”

In South Derbyshire, each household will receive a 52-bad roll of biodegradable bin liners, a five-litre kitchen-top caddy and a 55-litre outdoor caddy.

It is buying eight 7.5-tonne vehicles at a cost of £640,000.