Delivery of new bins and food caddies will begin next month in Rutland – ahead of a full roll out of food waste collections in April.

Leaflets will also be landing on doormats in the coming weeks explaining the service to residents.

Rutland County Council ruled last summer that general waste collections would continue on a fortnightly basis with smaller 140L bins – as part of a shift to collecting food waste separately.

The smaller black bin collections are expected to reduce waste processing costs by just over £250,000 per year. Mixed recycling collections will remain as they are.

But council leader Gale Waller (Lib Dem) said it was unfair that the government was forcing councils to make this change at the same time as reducing their financial settlement.

Under the terms of the government's so-called fair funding review, councillors believe Rutland has lost out to more urban areas – especially those in London and the south east.

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the economics of waste collection were such that it costs more to empty a bin in rural areas than in bigger towns and cities.

She said: "In those more urban areas you have a lot of homes closer together – a row of terraced homes for example. So completing a collection of bins there is quicker there per home than it is in rural areas where in some places you may have to drive two miles out just for one property.

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"From an environmental point of view it is a good thing and it should have been done sooner across the country.

"But it's going to cost more money and who has got to pay for it? We do, because our government grant has gone down."

From Monday, March 2, refuse collectors will begin swapping large black wheelie bins for the smaller bins, on households' normal collection days.

And from Monday, March 9, the council will start delivering the new food waste caddies.

Separate food waste collections will begin on March 30 – every week on residents' normal bin collection day.

A spokesman for Rutland County Council said: "The new food waste collection service in Rutland means your food waste will soon be collected every week.

"This service makes it easy to recycle your food and is a requirement for all councils in 2026.

"Your normal black, grey, and green bin collections will not change."

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For information visit rutland.gov.uk/bins-waste-recycling/guide-bins/introduction-food-waste