Sweeping changes to Fareham bin collections including new kerbside plastic and glass recycling delayed

Fareham Borough Council is one of Hampshire’s 11 waste collection authorities working together in Project Integra with Hampshire County Council, which is the waste disposal authority.

The ‘Simpler Recycling’ government scheme will be coming into effect for all households across England from 31 March 2026. The new national legislation aims to transform recycling in England by standardising waste collection and introducing separate streams for recyclable materials.

The legislation affects each waste collection authority differently depending on how each has managed waste programmes in the last 20 years.

Head of neighbourhoods at Fareham Borough Council Sarah Ward said everyone is at different stages. This government scheme means the introduction of three new recycling collection services: weekly kerbside food waste collection, kerbside glass collection and kerbside plastic pots, tubs and trays collection for Fareham.

Members of the Fareham Borough Council overview and scrutiny committee (May 15) were told the borough’s plans are progressing well for food waste recycling collection. However, she said extending the collection of dry mixed kerbside recycling from paper, cardboard and metal to include plastic tubs, pots and trays and glass has hit a problem. While it can be collected, Hampshire County Council, which is responsible for waste disposal, is not ready to recycle it yet. So despite the legal requirement, Defra has agreed to delay the start time for Hampshire to 2027.

Hampshire County Council needs to build a new materials recovery facility (MRF), allocating £50.5 million for a new “Twin Stream” MRF at Chickenhall Lane in Eastleigh and repurposing of the Portsmouth MRF.

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The officer’s report to the decision-making executive meeting on Tuesday (May 20) recommends that no change to dry recycling collections is made until the new MRF is operational. In choosing this option, four of four options, Defra said the council needs to publish a simpler recycling compliance timeline of intention in achieving simpler recycling compliance in Hampshire.

The officer’s report said no additional costs would be incurred to Fareham and the collection system, frequency, number of bins and number of crews would be unchanged until the waste disposal infrastructure in Hampshire is able to process these collections when the new facility is up and running.

If Fareham starts the pot, tubs and tray recycling collection now, the officer warned it would cause Hampshire County Council to incur extra cost to dispose of it by way of a third party, or instead, it may choose to get rid of it as remedial waste.

At scrutiny ahead of the executive meeting, members discussed the recommendations from the officer’s report which included creating a resident engagement temporary job for 12 months, costing £65,000 to help residents participate in recycling. It is funded from a £308,000 transitional resources grant for food waste allocated to the council in 2025/26.

Mrs Ward said: “More engagement with residents means there are better recycling outcomes.”

Councillor Tiffany Harper (Con, Titchfield) reinforced the importance of a resident engagement officer. She said recycling by businesses has already started and she was trying to teach people what goes in which bin – it was absolute carnage.

Additional glass bring banks were also recommended for approval on council land before 30 March 2026, from within existing budgets.

The panel agreed to recommend option four incurring no costs and that there is a clear communication plan to residents about the recycling plans, and both finances and legal burdens to the council were clarified.

The council executive will decide on the plans and hear the recommendations and suggestions from the overview and scrutiny panel on May 20.