The Health and Environment Policy Committee met to discuss the future of waste management in the district, including the introduction of a new food waste recycling service and the implications of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The committee also received an update on the council's Air Quality Strategy, noting that the Air Quality Management Area would be revoked. Finally, the committee noted the work programme for 2025/26.

Food Waste Recycling Service

Winchester City Council will roll out a new food waste recycling service to all residential properties in the district between October 2025 and March 2026, in response to the Simpler Recycling legislation¹ that requires food waste recycling collection services to be in place by 1 April 2026. The council has committed to increasing recycling rates and reducing waste, supporting its going greener faster objectives. The council also hopes to increase sustainable energy production and reduce carbon emissions.

The rollout will be phased, with seven new collection rounds introduced:

• Four rounds before Christmas, between 6 October and 12 December 2025
• Three rounds in the new year, between 2 February and 20 March 2026

The council will provide residents with a 23L outdoor bin, a 5L kitchen caddy, a sample roll of compostable caddy liners, and an information leaflet. Communal properties will receive a 5L kitchen caddy, compostable caddy liners, and a 140L communal bin.

New trucks fuelled by hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) will transport food waste to a transfer station before being delivered to an anaerobic digestion plant, where it will be converted into green gas and fertiliser.

A consultation in late 2023 showed that 97% of respondents believed it was important to recycle from home, and 78% wanted to recycle a wider range of materials.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

The committee was informed about Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a UK government policy that makes producers financially responsible for the full net cost of managing the packaging waste they place on the market. This includes the costs of collection, sorting, recycling, and disposal. The aim is to incentivise producers to design packaging that is easier to recycle and reduce overall waste.

Payments are assessed and passed to local authorities to help cover the costs of managing this waste. Winchester City Council anticipates receiving £1,680,439.52 in EPR payments for the financial year 2025/26.

Packaging will be classified into three categories:

• Red: Packaging that is difficult to recycle at scale
• Amber: Packaging that may experience challenges during collection and sortation, requires specialist infrastructure for reprocessing, or has some secondary material loss
• Green: Packaging that is widely recyclable in the current UK infrastructure

Fees will be higher for packaging that is more difficult to recycle. For example, escalating fee multipliers for red-rated packaging will be introduced:

• 2026–27: 1.2×
• 2027–28: 1.6×
• 2028–29: 2.0×

Air Quality Strategy

The committee received an update on the council's Air Quality Strategy, which was adopted in March 2025 in response to the Environment Act 2021 and the National Air Quality Strategy - England. Winchester is the first local authority in Hampshire to adopt its new Air Quality Strategy.

The strategy has a 5-year plan aiming to achieve:

• NO2 '30 by 30'
• PM2.5 '10 by 30'

Across all areas of the district.

The council's Air Quality Management Plan, which has been in place since 2003 and covers the Air Quality Management Area in the city centre and eight radials, will be revoked, as national standards have been achieved for three years and no future increases are predicted. DEFRA² has agreed to the revocation. The new Air Quality Strategy has 13 actions across five key themes:

• Air Quality monitoring and modelling
• Transport
• Domestic Heating and Combustion
• Indoor Air Quality
• Construction and new developments

Priority actions to be delivered by April 2028 include modelling, expanded air quality monitoring, a regional network, a sensitive location study, and an anti-idling policy.

Work Programme

The committee noted the work programme for 2025/26.