Weekly food waste and three-weekly black bins will not start until early 2027. Keep your caddy and your current bin day; missed collections are the reason.

Weekly food waste collections in Macclesfield and the rest of Cheshire East will not start this autumn. The council announced on Thursday that it has postponed the service until early 2027.

The switch of black bins to every three weeks is postponed with it. Your black bin stays on its two-week cycle, and your collection day does not change for now.

The reason is the state of the current service. The council says shortages of HGV drivers and loading staff, and vehicle breakdowns, have caused more missed bin collections in recent months. (Cheshire East Council, 8 October)

What has been postponed

Until the food waste service begins, none of these changes happen:

  • weekly collection of food waste from the new outdoor caddy
  • black bins moving from every two weeks to every three weeks
  • new collection days for some households
  • shared 140-litre food waste bins for buildings with three or more flats, now expected in the new year

Your silver recycling bin and your garden bin carry on exactly as before.

Why the council stopped it

Councillor David Jefferay is the cabinet member for environment, sustainability and waste management. He said the crews, vehicles and infrastructure were in place, and “would have allowed us to start in November”.

He said starting now “would place more pressure on our wider collection operation”. He added: “I am not prepared to jeopardise that progress and that is why I have made the decision to postpone the food waste rollout until early next year.”

He also apologised. “In recent months, the service they have received has fallen significantly short of that standard,” he said. “We are sorry, and we know the service must improve.”

The council’s own update of 28 September shows the scale of the problem. Two vehicle breakdowns in a single week left around 1,400 bins uncollected. Staff shortages have meant up to 15% of collection rounds being stood down on some days. (Cheshire East Council, bin collections update)

It is replacing collection vehicles after five years rather than seven, to cut breakdowns. It says it has a “recovery and stabilisation plan” for the service.

Is the council allowed to delay?

Weekly food waste collections are a legal requirement under the government’s Simpler Recycling rules. GOV.UK guidance says councils must meet the household requirements from 31 March 2026, unless a transitional arrangement gives them a later date for food waste. (GOV.UK, Simpler Recycling)

The council’s announcement does not say whether Cheshire East has such an arrangement, or give a new start month beyond “early next year”.

Timeline of the Cheshire East food waste start date. 31 March 2026: Simpler Recycling rules apply unless a council has a later food waste date. 6 July 2026: outdoor caddies start arriving. 11 September 2026: council says new bin days and start dates will be online by mid-October. 8 October 2026: service postponed to early 2027, black bins stay fortnightly.
The start date has moved twice since September. Graphic by The Macclesfield Times.
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The timetable has moved before. On 11 September the council said the online collection calendar would show each household’s start date and new day by mid-October. (Cheshire East Council, 11 September) Its service page now says the calendar will be updated “later this year”. (Changes to food waste collections)

What it means for you

  • Keep your caddy. The council says this is “a postponement and not a cancellation”. Do not put the caddy out yet; crews will not empty it.
  • Put your bins out as you do now, on your current day, by 6.30am.
  • Food scraps go where they go today. If you pay for garden waste, they go in the garden bin. If you do not, they go in the black bin or your home compost.
  • Garden bins stop for winter between mid-December and mid-January, so subscribers will need the black bin for food over that spell.
  • No caddy yet? The council says almost all have been delivered and it will return to the small number of missed homes before the service starts. You can check your delivery date.
  • If your bin is missed, report it after 6pm and within two working days of your collection day, using the council’s missed bin form. Leave the bin out where it is safe; crews may come back on a Saturday.
  • Watch the calendar. Collections will start in phases over two weeks, so your start date may differ from your neighbours’.

The council says it will write to residents about the food waste service early in the new year.

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