Lincolnshire reveals £10m plans for weekly food waste collections in national ‘Simpler Recycling’ scheme

With nearly £10 million proposed for system upgrades and a new waste transfer site, the county is poised to shift from incinerating food waste to an anaerobic digestion model by April 2026.

The government’s Simpler Recycling plan seeks to boost recycling rates across the country and cutting the amount that goes to landfill. It is hoped that changes to the current system of waste collections will see less recyclable waste material incinerated.

Earlier this year it was announced that Lincolnshire’s district councils would be given around £7 million in capital funding from the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to help get the project of weekly food waste collections off the ground.

However, Lincolnshire County Council is estimating that its own funding needs to be at £9.6 million for the necessary works of making this scheme a possibility.

This cost estimate includes plans for a new waste transfer station (£5.4 million), either in Lincoln or North Hykeham, as well as upgrading the five existing sites in Lincolnshire (£4 million), and purchasing new vehicles to transport the waste (£200,000 for a new one-wheel loading shovel).

Food waste is currently brought to the Energy from Waste plant in North Hykeham, generating power for around 30,000 homes, but the Simpler Recycling scheme will see this diverted to an anaerobic digestion model — a process where bacteria breaks up organic matter such as food waste and releases biogas.

Lincolnshire County Council estimates this shift could improve the county’s recycling rate by as much as seven per cent, and the transition is seen as a similar process to that of twin stream recycling — better known as the purple bin rollout — brought into Lincolnshire in recent years.

Work is already underway within district councils to prepare for this next step, with South Kesteven District Council aiming to finalise a new waste depot by summer 2025, while North Kesteven District Council and West Lindsey District Council get to work on procuring new vehicles for the changes.

The county council is currently working on presenting its business case for capital funding from DEFRA, in order to maximise the potential of the Simpler Recycling scheme.

It suggests that there could be a saving of up to £90 per tonne from food waste diverted from an Energy from Waste site to the anaerobic digestion model, and with Lincolnshire currently transporting between 30-35,000 tonnes each year — an annual saving of around £3 million has been predicted.

Construction of a new waste transfer station would also save the council £150,000 per year on rent payments for the existing site in North Hykeham.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee will consider these proposed improvements to the county’s waste transfer stations at its next meeting on Tuesday, May 28.

Leader of the Council, Martin Hill, is recommended to approve the changes within the council documents, which would allow the council to proceed with its funding proposals.

Do you think separate food waste collections are needed to drive recycling rates up in the future?