WORCESTER City Council will need to roll out food waste collections to more than 40,000 homes under government plans to stop leftovers going to landfill, figures show.

The Environment Bill outlines plans for food waste to be collected separately from all households by 2023, with a campaign group calling uneaten food in the country an “environmental nightmare of epic proportions”.

An analysis of data from waste reduction charity Waste and Resources Action Programme, who support the proposals, shows the estimated 45,000 households in Worcester do not get their kitchen scraps picked up by the council.

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This means Worcester City Council, along with around half of all English local authorities, will have to introduce a new food waste collection within three years.

Typically, food waste is collected from houses using a caddy in the kitchen and putting out the scraps in another container outside for collection, or it can be combined with garden waste.

Flats pose more of a challenge, with some given communal bins to empty their caddies in to.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said they will be working closely with local authorities to end confusion over household recycling.

She added: “Nobody wants to see good, nutritious food going to waste and harming our environment, which is why we’ve committed to eliminating food waste from landfill by 2030.”

The Local Government Association said it supported ambitions to reduce food waste, but spokesman David Renard said decisions over separate collections should be a local decision.

He added: “Councils would need to be fully funded to meet new costs from introducing weekly food waste collections, regardless of whether or not they have been providing a food waste service.”

Carina Millstone, executive director of food waste campaigners Feedback, said: “With over 10 million tonnes of food going to waste per year in the UK, food waste is an environmental nightmare.”