Felixstowe MP, Thérèse Coffey, has cleared up the Government's new bins and recycling legislation meant to put 'an end to the postcode lottery'.

Representing her department as Secretary of State on Monday, Dr Coffey wrote a statement clearing up the Government's response to the Simpler Recycling consultation published two days before.

The new legislation introduces new waste reforms meant to make it easier for households to recycle by 'introducing a simpler approach to waste collections'.

Dr Coffey, who represents Suffolk Coastal, said: "This common-sense approach means an end to the postcode lottery so, for the first time, people across England will be able to recycle the same materials, as well as get weekly food waste collections.

"Whatever product you buy with the recycling logo, all your food you don't use, you will be able to recycle it at home – wherever you live."

The new legislation will require all councils to collect seven different types of waste — glass, metal, plastic, paper, card, garden and food waste — with compulsory collections of other residual waste every two weeks.

When the legislation was announced, there were fears households would now need seven different bins but Dr Coffey assured this would not be the case.

She added: "The areas with the highest recycling rates use just three bins or boxes for every home to collect this already.

"If it works for those parts of the country, the government thinks that this approach can be undertaken by all councils. "

By also introducing stricter laws to tackle illegal waste, fly-tipping, dodgy dealers, and rogue operators, the legislation is expected to not only halve residual waste produced per person but also work towards recycling 65 per cent of municipal waste by 2035.

East Suffolk's Cllr Louise Gooch, however, thinks the legislation does not go far enough in its approach.

She said: "Education is also a key part in dealing with this, not only getting children into the early habit of recycling and not littering, but also for adults, in knowing how and where to dispose of all of their waste, at home or out and about.

"As a society we need to be better at recycling, re-using and re-purposing as part of our daily lives."

Cllr Gooch also called for efforts in 'persuading the public to try to be more careful about the quantity of food they buy', a proportion of which routinely ends up as waste.

Although Ms Coffey also assured local councils would have the 'flexibility to design and implement the reforms' as they feel appropriate, Cllr Gooch argues this takes away from a coherent way to tackle the issue.

She added:  "It is important that there is standardisation in whatever provision is made across the country so that no matter where you are, you know what to do with your rubbish."

This comes has concerns over street littering have been raised during the district's full council meeting in late September.

Following the presentation of several photographs taken by Cllr Peter Byatt, the council agreed to create a Task And Finish Group which is expected to be set up to tackle this issue in the coming weeks.