Food waste changes coming to Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and Preston - here's what is happening

Food waste collections are on their way to Lancashire including Blackpool, Wyre, Fylde and Preston as part of national changes in the way we deal with household refuse.

From April 2026 the government is introducing Simpler Recycling, a UK wide initiative to make recycling services more consistent across the country, including the weekly food waste collections.

Simpler Recycling is designed to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill or incineration. The government has set a national recycling target of 65% that local authorities must meet by 2035.

Local authorities nationwide have been ordered by the government to begin dedicated food waste collections and residents will be expected to separate food from their general rubbish.

BLACKPOOL

In Blackpool, the council’s changes to waste and recycling includes new and larger bins, moving to a three-weekly bin collection cycle alongside the new weekly food waste collections, as well as brown bins.

The council will be introducing a weekly food waste collection from the week beginning April 20 2026.

Starting from March 2026, all households which are currently on wheeled bins will begin to receive their food caddies ahead of the weekly collections starting Households will get:

• A 7 litre kitchen caddy to keep inside
• A 23 litre bin to keep outside
• Two rolls of liners for your indoor caddy - this is enough for two per week

The council won’t start collecting them until late April, so people don’t need to use them yet.

Your food waste collection will be for:

• All uneaten food and plate scrapings
• Baked goods like bread, cakes and pastries
• Dairy products
• Eggs and eggshells
• Fruit and vegetables including raw and cooked vegetables and peelings
• Out-of-date or mouldy food
• Pet food
• Raw and cooked meat or fish, including bones
• Tea bags and coffee grounds

WYRE

Wyre Council is delivering new food waste caddies to every household between February 16 and March 23.

The new weekly household food waste collections will begin on April 13, a week earlier than in Blackpool, so the council is looking to make sure everyone has what they need ahead of launch.

The council is starting in rural areas and then moving into Wyre’s urban communities.

When the new deliveries are being made, residents don’t need to be home, the items will be left at each property, including:

A 5‑litre kitchen caddy; a roll of liners; a 23‑litre outdoor food waste bin, which will be emptied weekly once collections begin Residents are asked to continue to disposing of their food waste in the grey bin until this date as food waste presented in the outdoor caddy will not be collected for recycling before 13 April 13

For more information, visit: www.wyre.gov.uk/food-waste

FYLDE

Unlike in Blackpool and Wyre, the new weekly food waste collections will not begin in April but from Autumn 2026.

While the UK Government’s Simpler Recycling legislation comes into effect from April 2026, Fylde Council has experienced delays in obtaining the new vehicles needed to deliver the service.

Fylde says it will provide specific start dates and delivery information for your caddies closer to the launch.

Residents will be provided with a 5-litre kitchen caddy (all properties). The kitchen caddy will be issued along with a roll of caddy liners and will be sealable and lockable.

These will be issued along with the caddy and will be replaced when required. A 23-litre kerbside caddy (except multi-occupancy premises): These will be used for presenting food waste outside on collection day. They can be stored away from the kitchen and used for containing your full kitchen caddy liners. This container should be presented at the front-edge of each property nearest the highway on collection day.

PRESTON

Food waste collections in Preston will be rolled out in two phases, the city council has announced.

The weekly pick-ups of leftover, unwanted and out-of-date food are set to start in April for residential dwellings with kerbs and driveways.

However, households in flats, those that use pink bags instead of wheelie bins and properties with communal waste arrangements will all follow on a yet-to-be-specified date later in the year.

Preston City Council will begin weekly food waste collections on Monday, 20 April 2026.

The two new ‘caddies’ - the small one to be kept in their kitchen and a larger one for outside - along with a bag of liners for the kitchen caddy - began to be distributed to properties in the Preston City Council area from February 23 and delivery will take place over a seven-week period, meaning some residents will not receive their caddies until early April. They will come with simple instructions about the new arrangements.

What they say

Councillor Jane Hugo, Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council and Cabinet Member for Climate Change said:“Our current recycling rate stands at 40.5%, so we’re still a bit away from the government’s target of 65%.

“By making small changes at home and continuing to support recycling in our community, I believe that we can get there together. We’re also making green waste subscriptions cheaper and the additional things that can be recycled will create more space in people’s black bins for the three-weekly collection.

“These changes are an important part of making our town greener. Change is difficult, but we have based our decision on evidence and what already works in other parts of the country.”

Coun Freddie Bailey, cabinet member for environment and community safety at Preston City Council, said: “We are pleased to introduce Preston’s new weekly food waste collection service. Our team have been working really hard to make recycling food waste simple and convenient for residents which in turn will help reduce the amount of waste being sent to disposal sites.

“Everyone has unavoidable food waste, such as eggshells, tea bags or banana skins. This service not only helps households recycle more but also keeps general waste bins cleaner and less full. It’s a little change to our daily routines that can make a big difference to the planet.”