Maldon council hopes to buy new garden waste bin lorry

The new 7.5-tonne vehicle - costing £130,097, is set to be bought from Suez and will service properties on smaller routes currently without a garden waste collection.

Maldon District Council members are expected to approve the purchase at a strategy and resources committee meeting on Thursday, July 24.

This move is part of the council's ongoing efforts to comply with new recycling regulations, which require the same materials to be collected from all households by April 1, 2026.

These materials include weekly food waste, separate collections of recycling such as glass, cans, plastic, paper, and cardboard, and garden waste, though the council can charge for the latter.

The council already complies with these changes for 95 per cent of properties.

However, it is now focusing on the remaining five per cent, which includes 145 blocks of flats that do not have individual bins, and 140 blocks that currently do not have food waste collection.

Some nine blocks of flats do not have any mixed recycling, excluding glass, while 56 blocks do not have glass recycling.

Isolated properties, currently serviced using a smaller 7.5-tonne refuse vehicle due to access issues, are not currently offered a garden waste collection service.

The new vehicle is intended to rectify this.

Increased funding of £682,915.81 was allocated to Maldon District Council via the Extended Producer Responsibility for 2025/26.

Of this, £145,000 has already been earmarked to fund the rest of this project, including setup costs, crew costs, fuel, and vehicle maintenance.

The council has already received £11,126.00 in capital funding for weekly food waste collections.

Since weekly food waste collection will be statutory from April 1, 2026, additional funding will be available from that date.

Transitional funding for weekly food waste collections was also made available to cover the cost of procurement, project management, and communications.

A project administrator has been appointed on a one-year fixed-term contract.

The new 7.5-tonne vehicle is required to start the garden waste collection service to isolated properties from October 1, 2025,

This vehicle will be procured by Suez but owned by the council and funded through capital reserves.

The vehicle will help meet the requirements of the Simpler Recycling legislation and provide additional support for the food waste collection service from flats, should it be required.

Currently, Maldon District Council diverts 58 per cent of waste from landfill, the second-highest performance rate in Essex.

The changes required by Simpler Recycling are expected to increase this rate and help the council meet its future target of diverting 68 per cent by 2030.

The council has been working on upgrading its waste management system since March 2023, following the approval of a paper detailing the renewal of the Suez waste contract and preparation for legislative changes.