Preston City Council will introduce weekly food waste collections across the city from April 2026.
The rollout supports the UK Government’s ‘Simpler Recycling’ legislation, designed to boost recycling rates and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Food waste is responsible for approximately 8-10% of global manmade greenhouse gas emissions, making recycling food a simple, easy, yet effective way to protect the environment.
From next week, all households will begin receiving a kitchen caddy, a roll of liners, and a new outdoor food waste caddy – this will be over a 7-week period so residents’ caddies might not be delivered until March/ April.
Each caddy will include a helpful information leaflet outlining what can and cannot be placed inside, along with simple instructions on how to use the service.
Using the new caddies is easy, residents simply empty any food waste they have, such as plate scrapings, peelings and tea bags into their kitchen caddy. Once the liner is full, it can be transferred to the outdoor food waste bin for collection.
The first phase of the rollout will focus on residential properties with kerbs and driveways. A second phase, extending to flats, pink‑bag households and properties with shared or communal arrangements, will follow later in 2026.
What happens to your food waste?
In the first instances, Food waste will be dried, composted and made into a compost-like material for land restoration. Longer term, food waste will be taken to the anaerobic digestion facility at Farrington Waste Recovery Park in Leyland, where it is broken down to produce biogas, a renewable energy source used to generate electricity. The process also creates a nutrient rich digestate, which can be used by farmers as an effective organic fertiliser.
Councillor Freddie Bailey, cabinet member for Environment and Community Safety said: “We are pleased to introduce Preston’s new weekly food waste collection service. Our team have been working really hard to make recycling food waste simple and convenient for residents which in turn will help reduce the amount of waste being sent to disposal sites.
‘’Everyone has unavoidable food waste, such as eggshells, tea bags or banana skins. This service not only helps households recycle more but also keeps general waste bins cleaner and less full. It’s a little change to our daily routines that can make a big difference to the planet.”
For more information and answers to frequently asked questions, visit www.preston.gov.uk/foodwaste
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