Local authorities are set to issue households with up to four bins as a default to separate their waste and recycling.

According to the latest policy update on the Simpler Recycling reforms, the new default requirement for most households will be one container each for residual waste, food and garden waste, paper and card, and plastic, metal and glass.

Published today by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the update also confirms the previous Government’s plans to require all councils to collect residual household waste at least fortnightly are to be dropped.

Cllr Adam Hug, environment spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA), said: ‘We are pleased the Government has listened to the LGA and decided to allow councils to return some of the flexibilities in how [to] collect waste from people’s homes.

‘Public satisfaction with local waste services remains very high, which councils have worked hard to achieve. What works in urban centres is different to rural communities.’

However, he added the separate collection of paper and card would require ‘additional resource and time for implementation’.

He also said he was ‘concerned’ that businesses are still going to have to follow the new recycling rules from 31 March 2025 – a year earlier than the household recycling changes.

The National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO) added the decision to keep the March 2025 deadline for business waste was ‘illogical and impractical’.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: ‘This Labour Government is ending the Wild West and introducing a streamlined approach to recycling to end to the postcode lottery, simplify bin collections and clean up our streets for good.’