Plans to introduce fortnightly rubbish and recycling collection services in Cornwall have been delayed by almost a year.

Cornwall Council has agreed a new eight-year contract with Biffa to provide waste and recycling services across Cornwall.

As part of the new contract collection services are set to change with recycling and black bag waste being collected fortnightly and the introduction of a new weekly food waste collection service.

The council originally stated that while the new contract would start this year the new collection arrangements would not be rolled out until summer 2021 in a phased approach across Cornwall.

However the council has now said that the contract will now start in February 2021 and that the new collection service will start in 2022 – almost a year after it was originally planned.

The council said this week that this was due to new facilities having to be built and provided as well as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement the council said:

"There is a lot to organise to facilitate these changes and significant adaptations need to be made to waste transfer stations which require planning and building works. An example relates to the separate management of food waste.

"The effects of covid-19 have also presented additional challenges.

"Fortnightly rubbish and recycling collections will be rolled out in phases across Cornwall from 2022.

"In the meantime we can all recycle more – there is no need to wait. Currently around one third of the contents of the average black bin bag in Cornwall is made up of food waste. If we all shopped smarter and used up leftovers, that could make a big difference."

The contract for waste services changed from the council's original aims which were to have recycling collected weekly and black bag collected fortnightly.

This was to try and increase the amount of waste which is recycled in Cornwall while also reducing the amount disposed in black bags.

However the council was unable to find an operator which could provide that level of service within its budget so had to alter it so that both recycling and rubbish are collected fortnightly.

Under the new collection service people will continue to use the existing recycling containers but will be issued with a wheelie bin for their black bag waste as well as containers for their food waste.

Households which do not have space to store a wheelie bin will be provided with seagull proof sacks.

As part of the new service homes will only be allowed to put out rubbish which will fit in the wheelie bin or sack – the council has previously said any additional waste will not be collected.

The council has invested in new vehicles for the new service and these will start to be rolled out this year. They are larger and can take more waste for recycling.

Rob Nolan, council Cabinet member for environment, said:

"It's great to see the new fleet being rolled out across Cornwall and we're delighted to be working with Biffa for another eight years.

"The lorries are part of a much wider plan to deliver a more efficient waste and recycling collection service.

"Most top performing local authorities in the UK already operate a weekly food waste and fortnightly rubbish collection and we are confident this planned change will significantly improve recycling rates in Cornwall.

"The changes to collections won't happen straight away and a lot of work is being done to ensure everyone is prepared.

"We will be contacting households towards the end of next year to give further details of the service changes including information on the new bins to be provided for food recycling and rubbish collections.

"In the meantime, we are asking that everyone thinks about how much they throw away and to recycle as much as they can using the current services.

"We can all make a start by reducing the amount of food we put in the bin. Currently around one third of the contents of the average black bin bag in Cornwall is made up of food waste.

"By shopping smarter, using leftovers and home composting you can make a huge difference."

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