Residents across Shropshire will not see the start of weekly food waste collections as previously planned, as Shropshire Council has confirmed the service is delayed due to a lack of long-term funding. While the government provided just over £3.6 million to cover the purchase of vehicles and bins, along with short-term transitional funding, this money did not include the ongoing revenue funding needed to operate a weekly collection service.
This delay means residents must continue with their current waste arrangements for the time being. The situation is not unique to the area; at least 79 councils across England have confirmed they will miss the 1 April 2026 deadline for introducing these collections, with at least 57 of those aiming to launch services by the end of 2026. When transitional arrangements are included, more than a third of councils will not yet be collecting food waste from all households nationally.
Shropshire Council has pointed to the specific difficulties of delivering services across such a large, rural county, where costs are significantly higher than in more urban areas. The council intends to write to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs to outline the particular challenges that rural authorities face in meeting these national requirements.
The council is currently managing significant financial pressures, including a projected overspend of around £50 million. To help balance the books, the local authority is among roughly 40 councils nationally relying on extra financial support from the government, and it has already approved an 8.99% increase in Council Tax for the 2026/27 year.
A report regarding the current status of the service and recommending the next steps for a potential future rollout will be presented to the council’s Cabinet on 15 April 2026.
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