An East Riding Reform UK councillor has branded weekly brown bin collections as a “ridiculous waste of money.” New weekly collections will begin in parts of the East Riding in the coming weeks.
Cllr Denise Howard, of the East Wolds and Coastal ward, has spoken out against the move. The councillor defected to Reform UK in October 2025. She was announced as one of 20 Conservative councillors from across the country who had joined Nigel Farage’s party.
The decision to make food collections weekly was made by the previous Conservative government in 2023, while Cllr Howard was a Conservative councillor. The then Environment Secretary, Therese Coffey, said at the time: “Simpler recycling will help us all recycle more easily, doing our bit to help save the planet and make the best use of precious resources that we use every day. Alongside weekly food waste collections, we are ending the postcode lottery of what you can put in your bin so that wherever you live in the country, you will be able to recycle the same products with confidence.”
Brown bins, used to dispose of and recycle food and garden waste, are currently collected fortnightly in the East Riding. The change to weekly collections, which is being funded by the Government, will take place for much of the East Riding from February 9 and will be extended to all East Riding residents by 2027.
Cllr Howard said: “It doesn’t matter if it is the council or the Government paying for this nonsense, because it is the taxpayer that picks up the bill in the end. This is a stupid idea that is no doubt going to cause further financial pressure. Maybe the council should push back and tell the Government, no! This is a ridiculous waste of money coming at a time when we are constantly being told that money is in short supply.”
All households will be sent a recycling information pack through the post in the next few weeks which will include a bin collection calendar showing their new dates for 2026/27. Residents can also download the East Riding of Yorkshire Council app to get the new dates on their mobile phones.
What goes in the brown bin?
The council said that brown bins can be used to dispose of all cooked and uncooked food, out-of-date food, peelings, plate scrapings, bones, meat, eggshells, teabags and small amounts of sauces and gravies. They can still take garden waste too.
All the contents of the brown bins get recycled into compost locally. The council gives away some of that compost for free each year to local residents at special events.
By: Andrew Spence, LDRS
