Havering Council's new food waste collection service

Closed 30 Nov 2024

Opened 9 Oct 2024

Contact

FoodWasteSurvey@havering.gov.uk

Feedback updated 17 Apr 2025

We asked

We carried out a consultation between 9 October and 30 November 2024 to seek views on Havering’s upcoming new food waste collection service.

The government, by law, requires all local authorities to provide a separate household food waste collection by March 2026.  In response to these future compulsory changes, we asked residents to share their thoughts on collecting, separating, storing and presenting cooked and uncooked food waste to help us shape how a separate home food waste collection service would work.

You said

1868 responses were received to the consultation which includes 47 paper copies.

Orange sacks

  • 1849 respondents said that they currently use the orange sack recycling service (99%)
  • 1567 respondents told us that they recycle glass in their orange sack (84%).

Black sacks

  • The most common type of food waste thrown away in black sacks is: plate scrapings and left-overs (86%), followed by tea and coffee grounds (73%), meat, bones and carcasses (73%), fruit and vegetables (70%), bread and cakes (57%), dairy products (40%) and pet food (19%).

Food Waste

  • Just over a quarter of respondents currently compost their food waste (26%).
  • 1405 respondents said that they would use a dedicated weekly food waste collection service (75%).
  • Of the 463 respondents who said that they wouldn’t use a dedicated weekly food waste collection service, the top three reasons were:  lack of space indoors (46%) and outdoors (31%), and a dislike of keeping food waste separate (37%).
  • A quarter of residents who would not use the food waste service stated they do not produce any food waste.
  • 174 who said they wouldn’t use the food waste service provided a comment, the top three barriers were:  hygiene and smell (45), already using their own composting methods (30), and jointly, vermin and pests (28) and not producing any food waste (28).
  • 80% of respondents said that the provision of liners for their kitchen caddy would encourage or enable them to use the food waste service, followed by clear guidance on how to use the service (73%), information on how saving money may benefit the council (24%), information on the effects on the environment (21%), knowledge around benefits (17%), if they saw their friends or neighbours doing it (5%), other (4%) and if they had help from household/family (3%).

We did

Havering's Cabinet met on 22 January 2025 and agreed the permission to delegate the purchase of food waste caddies and food waste vehicles to Havering Council’s Director of Environment, in order to introduce a borough-wide separate food waste collection service from October 2025 (please note that this date is subject to change due to vehicle manufacturing period).

 

As a direct result of feedback, we now have an action plan in place to ensure appropriate messaging is considered when rolling out the service, and will focus on particular concerns residents may have to ensure service guidance is fit for purpose. 

 

We will also continue to encourage home composting and overall waste reduction as a means of reducing food waste.  A decision on whether to use caddy liners or not will be made in due course, but will likely be influenced by financial considerations.

Please see the full Public Document Pack Here which includes the consultation report, Cabinet report and appendices such as costs.

Overview

Did you know that the average household wastes £470 every year on throwing food away, that could have otherwise been used?

Havering’s “Love Food, Hate Waste” campaign has reached out to hundreds of residents over the years, helping them to save money and reduce their food waste by smart shopping, suitable storage and using up leftovers.  Where this is not possible, recycling food waste is a simple way for residents to reduce landfill and do something positive in the community towards climate change and reducing our carbon footprint. 

The government, by law, requires all local authorities to provide a separate household food waste collection by March 2026.  In response to these future compulsory changes, Havering Council plans to provide a separate home food waste collection service from next year. You can find out how this will work in our draft strategy (see the 'Related documents' section at the bottom of this page).

Ahead of this service being rolled out, we are conducting a survey to understand the impact on households and to ensure we provide the best service possible for residents of Havering. 

You may wish to think about your own household and how you will collect, separate, store and present your cooked and uncooked food waste.

If you want to find out more information, we are holding a number of drop-in events across the borough. 

Drop-in Engagement Events
Date Time Location
Thursday 10 October 2024 2pm to 6pm Gidea Park Library
Monday 14 October 2024 12pm to 4pm Hornchurch Library
Wednesday 16 October 2024 11am to 4pm Elm Park Library
Tuesday 22 October 2024 10am to 1pm Mardyke Community Centre
Thursday 24 October 2024 2pm to 8pm South Hornchurch Library
Tuesday 5 November 2024 10am to 5pm Harold Hill Library
Saturday 9 November 2024 10am to 4pm Upminster Library
Thursday 14 November 2024 2pm to 8pm Harold Wood Library
Wednesday 20 November 2024 10am to 4pm Colllier Row Library

Full details can be found in the 'Events' section further below.    

Thank you for giving us your views. Your opinion and participation will help shape how the new service will be provided in 2025/26.

Events

Audiences

  • Residents
  • Businesses
  • Communities

Interests

  • Environment
  • Waste Minimisation
  • Residents
  • Communities
  • Businesses