East Hampshire District Council’s food waste collection service is due to start this autumn.

Specialised lorries have now been ordered for the food waste collection service and, barring supply chain issues, the council expects to launch the service in October 2026.

Unused food and food leftovers currently make up about 30 per cent of what is thrown away in each household’s green refuse bin.

Being able to recycle this will significantly reduce the amount of waste sent for incineration.

Food waste will be used to generate energy and nutrient-rich soil improver for farmers using a process called anaerobic digestion.

Before the start of the weekly food waste collections, residents will receive a starter pack made up of an information leaflet, a small caddy in which to collect food waste in the kitchen, and an outdoor caddy - or use of a communal bin for those who share their outside bins with other households.

Food waste bin calendars will be available from the East Hampshire District Council website before the service is launched. Residents can sign up on the council website for bin updates to find out when the calendars will be released.

Cllr Richard Millard, the leader of East Hampshire District Council, said: “The introduction of food waste is a major project which has meant buying new specialised bin lorries. East Hampshire Norse will be hiring crews to run them.

“All councils across the country that don’t currently provide food waste collections have been placing orders for new lorries at the same time. We’ve also been working to get the best possible price for the vehicles through the procurement process. This is why our service will be starting later than that of some other councils.”

East Hampshire District Council said the precise launch date would be announced later in the year.