Householders in Cornwall will have their bins collected fortnightly and recycling collected weekly in future.

Cornwall Council’s Cabinet on Tuesday agreed to alter its waste collection with the new system set to come into force in 2020.

By having recyclables collected weekly the council hopes to increase the amount of waste which is recycled and also help households cut their levels of general waste. In addition the council will introduce a new weekly collection for food waste.

Households will be issued with a new container to collect food waste and will also be issued with a wheelie bin for black bag rubbish. The council will continue to use existing bags and a box for recycling.

The changes mean that the council will be operating in a similar way to many other local authorities and also comes into line with the Government’s resources and waste strategy which was also published today.

Cornwall currently recycles around 38% of its household waste but it is hoped that the new arrangements will help push this to around 50% in future.

The new collection system has been drawn up in time for a new waste and recycling contract which is due to start in 2020.

Sue James, Cabinet member for environment and public protection, welcomed support for the new system which she said would help the council to achieve one of its priorities to create a “green and prosperous Cornwall”.

Cllr James said that the current waste and recycling contract had been “exceptional value for Cornish taxpayers” and said that the new system will cost more.

Fellow Cabinet member Andrew Mitchell sounded a word of warning saying: “I am not sure that what we are proposing today is something that the public wants..”

He added: “My main concern is how are we going to afford it? I am seriously concerned that going through the budget setting process we are looking at a huge black hole in our waste collection budget.

“I am not exactly sure that at this time that this is affordable for Cornwall. I am not sure that I would prioritise our waste ontract and recycling. I would prioritise adult social care and getting our children safely to school.”

However Cllr James said that it wasn’t a case of whether the council could afford it but “we can’t afford not to do it” as the new Government guidelines set down new standards for councils to meet.

The Cabinet agreed to go ahead to the next stage of the process in setting the design of the new waste contract and to place an early holding order for refuse and recycling vehicles and containers.

The new contract is expected to be awarded to the new operator in July 2019 and then start in April 2020.