Council looks back at first six months of weekly food waste collections
Six months on, residents in Lincolnshire are said to be largely embracing their new, weekly food waste recycling collections.
Across the county they are said to have recycled an amazing 6,056 tonnes of food waste so far – generating enough energy to charge 127 million phones and produce approximately 5,147 tonnes of fertiliser.
The first collections began across the City of Lincoln, North Kesteven and West Lindsey at the end of March 2026, followed by South Kesteven in April.
Available data indicates that around 50 per cent of households are putting their food waste caddy out for collection each week, with participation reaching around seven in ten households in some parts of the county.
There are also encouraging signs that participation is increasing as residents get used to the service, according to Lincolnshire County Council. In South Kesteven, for example, presentation has risen from around 57 per cent during the opening week to approximately 71 per cent in the latest completed week.
Coun Danny Brookes, Chair of Lincolnshire Waste Partnership at Lincolnshire County Council, said the response was “really encouraging”.
“Thousands of tonnes of food waste are now being collected separately and put to good use rather than being mixed in with general waste,” he said.
“I’d like to thank everyone using their food waste caddy, along with the collection crews and teams across our councils who have worked incredibly hard to introduce these new services.”
Food waste collected is taken to BioteCH4’s anaerobic digestion facility at Hemswell, where it is used to generate energy and produce fertiliser.
Commenting on the milestone, Commercial Director at BioteCH4, Phil Roche, said: “With the introduction of food waste collections, councils across the UK are adapting to significant changes in how food waste is collected and managed, and it is encouraging to see Lincolnshire delivering such positive results from the outset.
“As a Lincolnshire-based business, we are proud to be supporting this transition by providing the treatment infrastructure and operational capacity needed to process the material collected across the county. The growing participation from residents not only reflects the success of the rollout but also helps ensure more food waste is converted into renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertiliser, delivering long-term environmental and economic value for the region.”
Introducing the service has involved delivering hundreds of thousands of caddies, recruiting and training additional crews, introducing specialist collection vehicles and creating new rounds across Lincolnshire’s urban and rural communities.
Weekly household food waste collections form part of the Government’s Simpler Recycling requirements.
The countywide rollout will continue this autumn, with Boston Borough and East Lindsey due to begin weekly food waste collections in October, shortly followed by South Holland.