Food waste consultation 2025 FAQs

As part of the government's Simpler Recycling reforms, all local authorities must introduce weekly food waste collections by 31 March 2026. Councils collect food waste to help protect the environment, meet national recycling targets, and comply with new government rules. When food waste goes to landfill, it releases harmful greenhouse gases like methane. Instead, councils send it to special facilities where it is turned into green energy and fertiliser. 

Collecting food waste separately also improves recycling quality, reduces disposal costs, and encourages people to waste less food. It is part of a wider effort to make recycling simpler and more consistent across the country. 

Food waste will be collected weekly by councils across England. This is part of the government's Simpler Recycling reforms, which require all local authorities to introduce weekly food waste collections by 31 March 2026. In most areas, food waste will be collected on the same day as your other bins, but by a different crew. 

Most types of food can be collected, but there are a few exceptions. Do not put liquids (like milk, oil, or gravy), packaging materials, or non-food items such as plastic, metal, glass, or nappies in your food waste caddy. These items contaminate the food waste and may result in your bin not being collected. 

No, food waste will not be collected if it is contaminated with the wrong items such as food packaging (such as glass, metal, or plastic), nappies, or liquids. It will be left uncollected, because contaminated waste cannot be processed, and will need to be transferred to the residual waste (grey) bin. 

No. While the council must introduce this service, using the service is optional for residents – though your participation will help reduce waste and fight climate change. 

Yes, we will continue to offer assisted collections for all types of waste collection. If a household makes us aware that they are unable to move their bin, due to age, illness, or disability, we can arrange for our crews to assist by collecting the bin from the front of the property.  

Flats and apartments will receive a small indoor kitchen caddy. These are used to collect food waste inside the home. Once full, residents take the waste to a communal outdoor food waste bin located in a shared area of the property. 

Yes, the food waste collection service will be free for residents. The kitchen caddy and external food waste bin will be provided at no cost, and the weekly collection service itself is also free. 

This will depend upon which collection option is selected. 

• Option 1 (separate food waste collections) would add approximately £1.7 million per year to the cost of providing waste services.
• Option 2 (mixed food and garden waste collections) would add approximately £2.6 million per year to the cost of providing waste services.  

The difference in cost is largely due to the disposal. It is more expensive to process mixed food and garden waste than it is to process food waste and garden waste separately.  

Food waste collection services are being partly funded by the UK Government, which is providing money to councils to help towards covering the cost of bins, vehicles, and setting up weekly collections. This funding is part of the Simpler Recycling reforms, aimed at making recycling easier and more consistent across the country. 

We would like to roll out food waste collections in 2026 subject to the availability of vehicles and equipment, which are currently experiencing high levels of demand nationally. 

Both options are designed to limit problems with smells and pests. Option 1 (separate food waste in a caddy) allows you to use ordinary plastic bags, just like in your kitchen bin. This helps keep the caddy clean, and its small size makes it quick and easy to wash. The caddies also have lockable lids to prevent animals from getting in.

Option 2 (mixed food and garden waste in the brown bin) requires compostable bags, which can be less durable and may split. The larger brown bins do not lock, but their size and weight provide some protection against animals accessing the waste.

With food waste being collected weekly, waste will not sit around long enough to cause significant hygiene issues.

Using bags to line the caddies, keeping bin lids shut, and putting waste out weekly will help reduce smells. A little vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, or newspaper in the bottom of the caddies can also help keep it fresh.

Even small amounts add up across the borough. Separating food waste ensures it can be recycled into compost or energy, rather than going to landfill.

The small kitchen caddy for daily use will have a capacity of approximately 7 litres whereas the larger kerbside caddy for weekly collection will have a capacity of approximately 23 litres. 

A hinge locking mechanism keeps the lid securely closed to: 

• prevent spills if the container is tipped over
• trap unpleasant odours inside
• stop insects and animals from getting into the contents

Food waste can be wrapped in paper or bagged in any plastic bag. The bags will be removed by the sorting system before the food waste is recycled. 

Flats and apartments will receive a small indoor kitchen caddy to collect food waste inside the home. Once full, residents take the waste to a communal outdoor food waste bin located in a shared area of the property.  

Food waste must be treated in a facility that is approved to accept animal by products (e.g., meat scraps). It will go through a process called anaerobic digestion a process that produces a ‘Biogas’ which is a renewable energy source for heat and electricity, and a nutrient-rich fertiliser. 

We expect the weight and volume of food waste to be much smaller than garden waste. This means that we will have space on the new collection vehicles for a   separate compartment to collect household batteries, vapes and small electrical items.  

Batteries and vapes cause fires in bin wagons and at the facilities where waste is disposed of. Electrical items require specialist disposal and should never be placed in your bins. 

Households that do not currently have a brown wheeled bin, and are not a flat or apartment, will be provided with one. 

Yes.

Food waste must be put in compostable bags only or placed unwrapped directly into the brown bin. Bags cannot be removed by a sorting system before the food waste is composted. 

Food and garden waste will be treated in a composting facility that is approved to accept animal by products (e.g., meat scraps). The composting process can produce various soil improvers and conditioners. 

Garden waste is much bulkier than food waste, so the bin wagons fill up more quickly. Adding an electricals box would take up valuable space and mean extra trips to the waste site, which increases costs. That is why we can only offer electrical collections alongside food-only waste collections, where there is enough room on the vehicle. 

Batteries and vapes cause fires in bin wagons and at the facilities where waste is disposed of. Electrical items require specialist disposal and should never be placed in your bins. 

It would not be acceptable to place dog, or other animal waste, in the brown bin.

The product produced when food and garden waste is treated must meet certain standards to be used in commercial agricultural and horticultural applications and dog waste is not permitted in any compost that is certified under the UK standard for composted materials.

Dog faeces can contain harmful organisms such as Salmonella, E. coli, roundworms, and tapeworms and the treatment process may not reach the sustained high temperatures necessary to kill these pathogens. The resulting compost is not suitable for use on edible plants due to the risk of further human and animal contamination.

The inclusion of dog waste could contaminate large batches of commercial compost, making the final product unsafe for use on food crops or in public areas and most composting programs strictly prohibit pet waste.