PLANNED changes to waste collection services in Thurrock have been put on hold for a year.

One of the most significant changes announced by the council on October last year was due to be the introduction of a food waste caddy collection service. Under thew system residents were due to get two new bins, one for indoors and one for outside.

A smaller kitchen caddy would be given to residents to store food waste in the house, before it is transferred to a new outdoor bin.

At the time the council said it might be that the new outdoor bin would be an attachment that fits on to the existing brown bit – but the finer details had not been worked out.

That work now sets to go on a lot longer after an announcement today (Friday, 29 July) following a presentation by environment portfolio holder Cllr Andrew Jefferies to a meeting of the council.

He has announced that plans to introduce weekly food waste collections, and other improvements to household waste services to drive up recycling, have been put on hold until 2023.

Cllr Jefferies said: "All the improvements we're planning will benefit the environment by helping us all recycle more while at the same time reduce the impact waste collection and disposal has on our carbon footprint.

"The deferment will help us to make sure that our plans are in line with government guidance, offer the best possible solutions to increase recycling rates long term and allow us to carry out exciting education projects in schools about the importance of recycling in the meantime.

"We had initially planned to make the changes highlighted in the ten-year Municipal Waste Management Strategy this September but with the government set to publish a range of guidance for local authority waste management later this year, we have decided to push back this date to make sure that our plans meet with new statutory obligations.

"Another advantage of waiting until 2023 to introduce the changes is that we will be able to access the Government's 'New Burdens Fund' which will cover the costs of the changes that we need to make to the household waste collection service, which will come as a result of the new guidance.  

"In the mean-time we will continue to innovate and improve our waste services to encourage residents to recycle as much as possible as we maintain the current collections of dry recycling, garden and food waste and general refuse."