WIRRAL households will soon have another bin to stand alongside their wheelies as the council introduces new "food recycling" rules.

The local authority is proposing to launch a new weekly collection of leftover or unused food to be recycled and turned into fuel.

It could mean the existing green wheelie bins will be reduced in size and collected only once every three weeks.

Councillor Bernie Mooney, cabinet member for environment, said: “We have a responsibility to do everything we can to improve and protect our environment.

"We committed to this in our Wirral Plan and we take that commitment extremely seriously.

“The evidence from looking at what we throw away in Wirral shows that almost 40% of rubbish that goes in the green waste bins is food, so by investing in a food recycling collection service we will significantly boost our recycling rate.

"That is the compelling evidence we have seen in every other area which has invested in a household food waste collection service.

“In Wirral, we estimate we need to reduce residual waste by 16,000 tonnes to help us achieve our challenging target of recycling 50% of household waste by 2020.”

She added: “Perhaps more importantly recycling leftover food is the right thing to do for the environment.

"Rotting food in landfill generates methane, which is a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide and which contributes to climate change.

“The food that will be collected in the new containers will be taken to a special processing plant in Widnes, which will result in it generating renewable energy and a nutrient-rich fertiliser that can be used to grow more food.”

Oxton Lib Dem Cllr Stuart Kelly said: “Wirral must improve its recycling levels which have dropped over recent years mainly due to the charge for brown bin collections.

“Eleven options are being analysed - but why is Wirral council only consulting residents on two options, including three weekly green bin collections?

“If they really want to promote recycling and in particular looking at methods of separating out food waste from green bins they should be engaging with the people who will have to make the systems work local residents.

“The council should also be aware that one size will not fit all areas in Wirral and they should be looking at bespoke solutions for different communities to increase recycling, but working with those communities on solutions rather than just imposing three weekly collections”

Householders will be given a small caddy to store in their home, a supply of liner bags and a small container for the bagged food waste, which can then be left out for collection every week alongside whatever other bin is due for collection that day.

This proposal is in a report going to cabinet next week.

It sets out options for the future operation of domestic refuse collections and recommends the proposals go out to public consultation before any final decision is made.

In addition to the introduction of a food recycling service, the other major decision to be made is to how to adapt waste collections accordingly.

The options for consultation are whether to replace the current green bins with a new, slightly smaller bin following the introduction of the food recycling service - or to move to a three-weekly collection schedule for residual waste only.

Consultation will begin mid-July for six weeks – full details of how residents can get involved will be issued nearer the time.

Changes to collections will not take effect until next year.