Councils given four bin guidelines to end ‘wild west’ recycling policies

Households could be issued up to four bins to separate waste as part of new guidance given to local councils in a bid to streamline recycling practices.

Under the new plan, local authorities will be told to give residents and workplaces four containers including a non-recyclable waste bin, a food and green waste container, a bin or bag for paper and cardboard and a bin for other recyclables.

Under current legislation, some households are required to separate waste into seven bins.

The four containers may be bins, bags or stackable boxes.

Current legislation introduced in 2021 defined recycling as glass, plastic, food waste, paper and card, resulting in some authorities issuing individual bins for each

The new rules will come into place for business recyclable waste collection from March 31 next year and one year later for residential households.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said communities have faced an “avalanche of rubbish” in streets, rivers and seas.

“Today we end the Conservative fiasco that would force households across the country to have seven bins,” he said.

“This Labour Government is ending the Wild West and introducing a streamlined approach to recycling to end to the postcode lottery, simplify bin collections and clean up our streets for good.”

The new guidance also revealed from March 31 2026, all waste authorities should be providing weekly food waste collections from households to allow people to “dispose of odorous organic waste frequently”.

Household recycling rates in England have stagnated at 45% since 2015, according to Government data.

The Government said the four-bin default requirement is not expected to increase in the future to ensure councils and other waste collectors “still have the flexibility to make the best choices to suit local need”.

Households in England dumped 5.6 million tonnes of packaging last year, according to analysis commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), County Councils Network (CCN) and District Councils Network (DCN).

The report found that 3.2 million tonnes of packaging were put into recycling bins, 2.3 million tonnes were put into residual – or “black” bins, and 70,000 tonnes were mistakenly put in with food waste.