Schedule revealed for major overhaul of waste and recycling collections
Lancaster City Council has announced a timeline of improvements to household waste and recycling services that will support residents to recycle and reduce waste.
Following approval by the city council’s cabinet earlier this year, a cross-party working group has collaborated with council officers to determine how this should be implemented to best address residents’ needs.
The service changes will be introduced in three phases from September 2025 to April 2026.
The first phase is to replace the current 55 litre recycling boxes with 240 litre wheelie bins to increase recycling capacity and reduce contamination rates.
Council crews will remove the boxes on a recycling collection day—for recycling—from September 22, 2025, to February 2026, and replace with new wheelie bins the same day.
The second phase involves establishing a weekly food waste recycling service to all residents as part of the governments national waste strategy. This will help to divert waste that ends up in landfill or incineration that could instead be converted into fertiliser or biofuel.
From February 9 to March 30, 2026, residents will receive everything they need to get started — a 7 litre kitchen caddy for inside, a 23 litre caddy for outside with a locking mechanism, a pack of kitchen caddy liner bags and an information leaflet.
Food waste collections will begin the week after delivery of the caddies, and the waste will be taken to Lancashire County Council’s Farington Waste Recovery Park.
The third phase will begin from April 2026, when fortnightly collections of non-recyclable waste (grey bins); plastics, glass and cans; and paper and cardboard, will change to three-weekly collections.
The move to a three-weekly household waste collection is in line with the Government’s Simpler Recycling principles to help increase the amount of waste that is sent to recycling. Evidence from other councils that have moved to three-weekly collections show that it has significantly increased recycling rates.
Council officers understand that not all residents have space at their property to accommodate additional external bins or instead use communal bin stores and bring-sites. This is why Waste Consultation and Engagement Lead Officers will visit these households between now and April 2026 to support and find solutions on a case-by-case basis.
Councillor Paul Hart, Cabinet member for Environmental Services, said: “We’re delighted that residents will benefit from these important changes to our waste collection services.
“The capacity of the current recycling boxes is no longer adequate for most households and as a result, a lot of cardboard ends up saturated by bad weather—which cannot be recycled—and recycling is littering neighbourhoods.
“Whilst the decision to introduce food waste collections has been made by Government, it aligns with Lancaster City Council’s commitment to move towards zero residual waste to landfill and incineration, and follows recommendations made by the Lancaster District People’s Jury.
“We’re confident there will be much more space in grey bins to accommodate the change to three-weekly collections. However, we understand that not all residents will have space for additional bins outside their property, and that’s why our officers will work with them to find solutions that suit their needs.”
The council has received around £1.46million in funding from the Government to support the roll-out of food waste collections and this will be used to purchase new vehicles and food waste caddies for households.
To find out more about the changes and view a list of frequently asked questions, please visit our website. Residents can also email wastechanges@lancaster.gov.uk or call 01524 582491 for additional support.
Last updated: 18 September 2025