The latest plans for the roll-out of food waste collection in Reading have been revealed, following a review of the trial early adopters scheme.

Food waste bins and caddies will be delivered to 67,000 homes from January 4 to February 1, 2021, with the new food waste service starting on February 1.

Properties will receive their food waste collections on the same day as either their waste or recycling collections, but most properties will see a change in collection day next year.

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Recycling, general waste and food waste collection dates are currently being finalised and the collection calendars for 2021/22 will start being delivered this week.

These new collection dates will begin on February 1.

Reading Borough Council (RBC) will also start replacing 240 litre bins with 140 litre bins on February 1, with all bins to be replaced by the end of March.

The final phase of the scheme will then begin in the summer, when high rise flats will also get food waste bins.

A total of 3,300 early adopter properties started the new service on October 5.

RBC chose streets which are operationally challenging, including property types such as low-level flats, student accommodation and houses of multiple occupancy (HMO’s), as well as a control area.

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The council says it will use the lessons learnt from the trial, as well as the feedback from residents, to help shape and adapt its approach for the main roll-out.

It says the trial has been “a success”, with the amount of food waste recycled “far exceeding” the predicted weight of 1kg per household per week.

The figures show the average over the six-week period has been 2.25kgs per household each week, more than double the expected amount.

RBC said there were some minor issues with bin deliveries being missed or delayed but the number of complaints was low, and residents were “generally positive” about the food waste scheme.

The key concern it pointed out was the reduction in size of the grey bins to 140l.

Eighty residents have requested additional waste capacity, 59 of which have been issued with white waste sacks.

The council’s Housing, Neighbourhoods and Leisure committee will discuss the success of the early adopters scheme and the plans for the full roll-out at next week’s meeting, on Tuesday, December 14.