South Derbyshire residents have kept roughly 235 tonnes of food waste out of landfill in the first month of the district’s new weekly food waste collection service, which launched on 1 June 2026. Nearly two-thirds of households used their caddies during June, hitting a participation rate of 65.7 per cent across towns including Swadlincote.
The 235 tonnes were diverted to a local anaerobic digestion plant, where the scraps break down into renewable energy for the National Grid and a nutrient-rich fertiliser spread on local farmland. Households that took part recycled an average of 7.14 kilogrammes of food waste over the month. The council said the community had together diverted the waste “in just 30 days” and was now aiming for 70 per cent participation by the end of summer.
The shift to weekly kerbside caddies replaces an older system that allowed some food scraps to go in garden waste bins on a fortnightly cycle. The change was driven by the Government’s Simpler Recycling Reforms, which made weekly food collections mandatory across England from spring 2026. South Derbyshire’s rollout was originally planned for April but was pushed back to June after national supply chain problems delayed delivery of collection vehicles, caddies and staff training.
More than 50,000 caddies have now been delivered across the district. Residents without a caddy can request one by calling the council on 01283 221 000 or going online. Acceptable items include vegetable peelings, eggshells and tea bags. The collected waste is processed at Severn Trent Green Power’s Derby Anaerobic Digestion facility, a site capable of handling up to 75,000 tonnes of solid and liquid waste a year and converting it into biomethane and bio-fertiliser. Derby City Council began sending food waste from roughly 100,000 homes to the same plant when its own weekly collections started on 31 March 2026.
South Derbyshire District Council notified DEFRA of the two-month delay and is now working to get the remaining non-participating households on board. Officials say just under 35 per cent of homes still have to start using the caddies and that a small increase over the coming weeks would be enough to reach the summer target.
About this article: This story was put together with the help of AI tools and checked by a real person on our team. We're a small crew trying to cover as much of the UK as we can on a limited budget. We're getting better every day - but we're not perfect yet. If something looks off, let us know. You're part of the process.
