Residents hit back at latest Solihull Council food waste caddy reminder

Solihull residents have questioned Solihull Council's latest request to start using their food waste caddies, with concerns being raised about pests, waste capacity and whether every household needs the new service.

The council is encouraging residents to start using their caddies ahead of the launch of weekly food waste collections from Monday 5 October.

Black bin collections will also move from weekly to fortnightly under the changes.

But the latest reminder has prompted a number of responses from residents, with several raising concerns about how the new system will work in practice.

Angela Coles simply responded: "They’ll have the maggots too."

Mark Mussett said they had already experienced problems with flies, writing: "So far we’ve been inundated with flies outside our back door. Hate to think what hot summer days brings."

He also raised concerns about rodents getting into the outdoor caddies.

Others questioned whether the scheme was needed by households that already compost their food waste.

Maria Wharton said: "We’ve never had food waste also got two large compost bins and recycle all we can, will use it to collect peelings etc to take to compost bins, but wonder how many will stand unused.

Kirsty Robertson added: "I hardly have any food waste and what I do have is given to the foxes as it is so how is it reasonable to empty our black bins once a fortnight? Mine will be overflowing!"

There were also concerns about residents who have not yet received their new caddies.

Faith Hughes wrote: "We haven’t had any delivered yet🤔", while other residents also said they were still waiting.

Some questioned the consultation behind the changes. Adele Sargeant said: "Consulting Solihull residents before spending public money first may have been a sensible choice."

There was also confusion over the changes to black bin collections, with Caroline Hodgson asking whether the whole borough would have its black bin collected the following week.

"I asked my bin men today and they're as much in the dark as us," she said.

Solihull Council says most food waste can go into the new caddies, including plate scrapings, peelings and tea bags. Residents can line their kitchen caddy with any bag except a black bag, or leave it unlined.

The council is asking households to empty the smaller kitchen caddy into their outdoor caddy when full, lock it in an upright position and put it out by 6am on their normal collection day.

The new weekly food waste collections begin on 5 October, while black bin collections will move to a fortnightly schedule.

Residents who have not received a caddy can report the missing delivery to Solihull Council here.