Fareham to approve £843k food waste recycling plan

Fareham Borough Council is gearing up for food waste recycling to start by Monday, March 30, 2026, with plans to spend £843,335 on lorries and caddies for food waste set for approval.

On Monday (November 4), the executive is set to rubber-stamp the plans for the new weekly food waste recycling collection as part of government plans for every council to have it up and running by March 31, 2026.

The executive will decide whether to buy five 7.5-tonne diesel bin lorries costing £613,800 and 47,500 23-litre food waste caddies for residents to put their food waste in kerbside, costing £218,335. While it does not form part of this current proposal, the council is also set to buy smaller food waste bins for residents to use inside homes.

Speaking at a streetscene scrutiny panel on October 29, the council’s director of neighbourhoods said the lead time on ordering the vehicles is 26 weeks. Sarah Ward said there is another 18 months but they are getting organised with buying the lorries and external caddies early to reduce the risk of supply chain pressures and increasing prices. The council officer said the caddies will be stored at Daedalus until they are needed.

The council received £969,223 in April as part of a new burdens fund to pay for the food waste recycling capital costs. It will cover £613,800 for lorries, £218,335 for kerbside caddies, £106,065 for kitchen caddies and £31,023 for communal wheeled bins.

The food waste fleet will run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to minimise the impact of the new service on the council’s carbon emissions, said the director of neighbourhoods.

The officer’s report also said that any minor upgrades needed at the Broadcut Depot will be funded within the Defra capital grant. The meeting also heard that there are 50,507 households in the borough who have waste collected and leaflets, social media, posters and video on the changes will be part of a communication campaign.

Ms Ward said the council is not buying electric lorries because that would be twice as expensive and the new funding does not cover that cost.

The cost of salaries for the five crews and bin liners will be from the revenue fund, which will not be available from government until March 31 2026, she added.