No bin changes for Portsmouth as new recycling rules approach
Portsmouth residents won’t need to worry about any changes to their bin collections when new rules come in, with the city already meeting the requirements.
New government rules will see councils across England standardising recycling services and bringing in weekly food waste collections. But Portsmouth City Council says it is already doing what’s needed, and has been for some time.
A government’s Simpler Recycling policy paper says: “For too long, households in England have been presented with a muddled and confusing patchwork of approaches to bin collections.
“This government inherited legislation that could have required households to have up to seven bins, placing an unnecessary burden on people and businesses.
“By 31 March 2026, local authorities will be required to collect the core recyclable waste streams from all households in England. This includes introducing weekly food waste collections for most homes, unless a transitional arrangement applies.”
Under the plans, most homes and workplaces will use four containers covering non-recyclable waste, food waste, paper and card, and other dry recycling such as plastic, metal and glass.
The paper adds these can be stored in “various container types, including bags, bins or stackable boxes”.
Councillor Dave Ashmore, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, said: “There will be no changes to recycling in Portsmouth in March. Portsmouth has been ahead of the curve with food waste recycling, introducing food waste collections a few years ago now before any such national legislation was required.
“We have also been working with partners to build a new recycling sorting facility that will enable the Council to meet the forthcoming requirements for collecting a wider range of dry recycling materials.
“Additionally, the Council has taken several initiatives in recent years to offer residents more opportunities to recycle, including maintaining a large network of recycling banks across the city (for glass, textiles, books, cartons and mixed plastics), providing kerbside collections for small electricals and batteries.”
The new rules also encourage the use of anaerobic digestion plants, which converts organic waste into biogas and fertiliser.
Cllr Ashmore said the council has explored the use of this type of facility “but we have to wait until market conditions allow this to be both viable and responsible”.