Gosport reveals more details about major bins overhaul as it misses deadline for food waste collections
Plans to introduce food waste recycling have been unveiled for the Gosport borough.
Gosport Borough Council has received a £670,000 government grant to purchase the necessary vehicles and containers for the scheme. However, the council will not meet the government’s April 2026 deadline to have the service in place.
This has resulted in criticism from Gosport MP Dame Caroline Dinenage, who publicly chastised the council last week for failing to keep residents informed of its plans.
Despite the missed deadline, the council’s community and environment board meeting on Wednesday, November 12, will serve as the official launch of the scheme.
The council has acknowledged the need for extra resources, stating that four additional collection rounds will initially be required to collect food waste weekly from 38,000 properties.
There are plans to order four new vehicles and 72,000 food waste containers for delivery by summer 2026.
A council spokesperson said: “Containers will be small caddies, 5 or 7 litres for kitchen use, and larger 23 to 25 litres kerbside containers, which will be placed out for collection.”
However, they highlighted that the “built environment” of Gosport poses challenges for waste collection.
All flats in the borough are currently undergoing a survey to identify the specific needs of each block.
The report also made it clear that participation in the service would be voluntary.
However, in a bid to encourage participation, each household will be provided with a kitchen caddie.
The council meeting will also set the stage for the second phase of the project, which involves reviewing the collection of dry mixed recycling with the aim of making it more comprehensible for residents.
However, this phase of the scheme has been delayed as the council must await the construction of Hampshire County Council’s twin-stream material recovery facility.
This facility, which will be able to handle kerbside dry mixed waste such as glass, will not be ready until April 2028.
This delay currently limits the council’s ability to deliver this part of the scheme to residents.