Delay to start of food waste collections

The following news was shared on Darlington Borough Council’s FB page:

Delay to start of food waste collections.

The introduction of food waste recycling collections in Darlington will no longer start on March 31, due to an unforeseen delay with a supplier.

In line with government policy, we had everything in place to start collecting food waste by the end of this month. However, we have been let down by a key supplier which means we do not have all the food waste recycling wagons we need, and so will now be unable to start collections in March.

We have worked with the supplier to a get a new start date for the collections of the week of Tuesday 2 June and we will be sending a letter to every household to let everyone know about this change.

The delay will also impact the start of weekly recycling collections which will be launched at the same time as food waste recycling collections.

Please do not put food waste bin out for collection until the new start date for the scheme. Continue to put food waste in their normal household bin.

Until the new food waste service starts, both household waste and recycling will continue to be collected fortnightly.

Despite the delay we are continuing to deliver the small, sealable food waste caddies and larger, sealable food waste bin to every home, along with 52 biodegradable caddy liners and an information pack.

The information pack tells you how the new food waste recycling collections will work as well as detailing the expanded range of recyclable materials we can now collect. Everything in the information pack is correct apart from the start date (which will read from 31 March).

Libby McCollom, the council’s cabinet member for resources, said: “We are sorry for any inconvenience this will cause but please do not start using your new food waste caddy and bin until we get back in touch with the new start date.

“This is very frustrating for us, as we were ready to launch the new scheme and help residents recycle more, but the unexpected delay by the supplier is out of our control.

“Please keep an eye on our website and social media for updates and look out for the letter which reinforces the new launch date for this exciting scheme.”

Full details on the new recycling service, including frequently asked questions, can be found on our website search "food waste".