The new food waste collection scheme coming to Rutland was discussed by the county council's scrutiny committee. 

Speaking at the meeting on Wednesday (October 17) held at Catmose House, Oakham, the cabinet member for environment Christine Wise (Lib Dem) said the authority had not much time for discussion of the issue due to government deadlines. 

She told the committee: "We might have wanted to have time to chat about whether we wanted to do a food waste service in Rutland, there are lots of reason to do it, lots of reason to not do, in a small authority, but that decision has been taken away from us by becoming a statutory duty in the spring of 2026. So, we have now just got to get on with the task of organising it at relatively short notice." 

Making food waste collections mandatory was announced by the government 12 months ago.

The council's plan to reduce either bin collections or the size of black bins has proven contraversial with locals. (Photo: Grace Kennington)

The plan in Rutland is to bring in the new food caddies, which will be collected at the kerbside and to change either the frequency of the black bin collection, to a possible three weekly schedule, or to reduce the waste bin size. 

The authority has been given more than £500,000 to buy new food trucks, but has said that the money will not be enough to cover the entire cost plus new food caddies, so it will have to find the extra money elsewhere. The authority already charges residents for its green waste collections and has not ruled out introducing new charges. 

Data gathered by the county council in a survey this summer showed that 60 per cent of waste thrown into the black bins could be recycled in the grey bin or is food waste. 

At the meeting, Cllr Abigail West (Lib Dem) questioned whether the authority could set up its own food waste plant, as she said there is a lot of money to be made from the industry. The food waste is turned into energy via anaerobic digestion and can produce biogas and biofertilizer. 

Senior officer Penny Sharp said that was not an option in the short term, but could be something to consider in the future. 

The matter will now go to the cabinet for approval. The scrutiny committee has asked that any decision about changing the black bin collection frequency comes back to the committee for input.