Cheshire East could be forced to collect food waste weekly from all properties under latest proposals being consulted on by the government.

The council introduced a system in January 2020 whereby food waste is collected fortnightly with garden waste, meaning people without gardens still put their leftovers in the black bin with household rubbish.

The government is currently consulting with all councils on proposed changes to waste collection in a bid to make it more consistent across the country.

At Friday's meeting of Cheshire East's environment and communities committee, vice chair Sarah Pochin (Bunbury, Ind) asked: "Is it likely that we will have to see our food collection waste go to once a week, which is what I understand, potentially, government legislation will insist upon?

"Can we have the reassurance that we're working towards managing the cost of that and the logistics of that so that we can meet that commitment?"

Ralph Kemp, head of environmental services, said: "It is true to say that one of the things they were consulting on was a weekly food collection to all properties and that is obviously part of what we're trying to model to give the implications."

Mr Kemp told the committee the government has three pieces of legislation as part of the Environment Protection Act which have been consulted on and the council has responded to those consultations.

"The key one, with regard to the way we collect waste, is a consistency in collections piece of legislation, which we are currently awaiting central government to inform us the outcome of their consultations."

He said the council had been looking at what changes might be needed based on the outcomes of what was being consulted on – and had been assisted in this by a consultant funded by the waste resources action programme.

"So what we're trying to do is get the council in the best position we can to be ready to know what changes might cost, what different options we might have, depending on how the government finally says they want waste collected," said Mr Kemp.

Cllr Pochin also asked whether it was likely the rubble charge at council tips would be scrapped as a result of the consultation.

Mr Kemp told her: "It is true that, again, part of this consultation was to remove the ability for local authorities to charge for DIY waste at household waste centres, and we will need to look at the implications of that as part of this feasibility."

Cheshire East started charging for rubble at its household waste centres in January 2018.

It currently charges for all non-household items such as rubble, hard core, soil, ceramics, glass and plaster, which are dumped in the rubble skip by householders following DIY work.

With regard to general recycling, the committee was told that, despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, rates were high with over 50% of all waste collected, reused or recycled.

Mr Kemp said: "This puts us amongst the top 10 local authorities for recycling nationally."

Bin day is currently on Thursday's for Macclesfield.

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