More than £280,000 has been made available for extra waste lorries and bins for businesses in the West Suffolk district.

The investment was given the final sign-off during last Tuesday’s West Suffolk full council meeting, after being agreed on by members of the cabinet earlier this month.

Councillor David Taylor, the council’s lead for operations, said the money would be used to ensure the authority met the government’s new recycling rules.

The new rules require non-domestic organisations such as schools, care homes and hospitals, as well as businesses with 10 or more employees, to separate food waste and dry recycling from general waste by March 2025, one year ahead of households being required to do the same.

Councillor David TaylorCouncillor David Taylor (Image: West Suffolk Council)

Mr Taylor added: “West Suffolk Council has well-established commercial waste disposal services and these proposals seek to protect and grow these services and their income by providing compliant waste services to our local businesses.”

The proposals were for £245,000 to be invested over eight years, into buying two additional waste lorries, with a one-off £38,000 payment for extra food waste and recycling bins.

As it stands, West Suffolk Council generates about £3million each year from its trade waste services, with the extra money predicted to extend the current recycling service to 1,130 customers.

Mr Taylor said: “This is an important income stream for the council and significantly contributes to the fixed cost of delivering its waste services.

“However, this revenue is at risk from competitors if we do not provide compliant food waste and recycling services to our customers.”

When requirements for households come into effect, it will also mean weekly food waste collections to 80,000 homes.

In total, the council is expecting to collect 127 more tonnes of dry waste every year and generate £395,000 in extra income, it had previously said..