Get ready! We’re rolling out food waste collections to the rest of Redbridge

Published: 17 September 2026 food waste truck

10,000 households across Redbridge are already benefiting from our food waste collections following its phased rollout last year, and from November and December this year all remaining houses will have the service too.

Flats are also due to join the service in a phased rollout and we’ll be contacting flat owners directly, closer to when their food waste collections will start.

The move is part of efforts to support local people to reduce food waste across Redbridge, improve recycling rates across the borough, and help tackle climate change.

So, here’s what to expect. Households under the service will receive a small kitchen caddy for food waste, and a larger outdoor caddy to decant the kitchen caddy waste into. 

Both keep food odours in, and the larger outdoor caddy is lockable giving peace of mind that foxes and other creatures won’t be able to get to the waste inside. 

Just make sure the caddy lid is flush against the caddy when locking it so it is fully closed and secured.

What should you do now in preparation?

Nothing yet. We’re just giving you a heads up. You’ll get a letter through the post between October and November, and it’s after that all the action starts to happen.

The letter will tell you more about the service, when you will get your caddies and what to expect next. We’ll keep you informed at every stage.

To check when your collections are due to start, head to:  https://my.redbridge.gov.uk/RecycleRefuse

If you don’t see your collection date on there yet, don’t worry. It will appear 2 months before your service is due to start so just keep checking back.

Why are we introducing food waste collections?

  • Tackling the climate emergency: Around 40% of the household waste collected in Redbridge is currently food waste and it has a negative impact on the environment by contributing to greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, which is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in creating global warming. By recycling more food waste, we can collectively, as a community, reduce the borough’s carbon footprint and overall food waste.
  • Saving money: Recycling food waste saves the council money that can be reinvested into other essential services for the community.
  • New legal requirements: Under changes in government policy, councils are now required to collect food waste separately from other household waste. This ensures that food waste is sent to specialised processing facilities, to be converted into renewable energy and fertiliser.

Want to know more, including what does and doesn’t go in to your food waste caddy? Head to: https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/bins-waste-and-recycling/food-waste-collections/

Redbridge Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Neighbourhoods, Cllr Jo Blackman, said: “Since launching the first phase of our food waste collection service last year, we’ve seen fantastic results, with nearly 80% of the 10,000 participating households now regularly using their food waste caddy. So far, more than 400 tonnes of food waste have been collected and processed through anaerobic digestion, generating enough renewable energy to heat around 40 average UK homes for a year.

These achievements show the real difference residents are making by recycling their food waste, and I’d like to thank everyone who has taken part so far.

With the roll-out of food waste collections to the remaining kerbside houses, we hope even more people will take advantage of the service, helping ensure food waste gets recycled  and also helps reduce overall food waste.”

Karen, from Wanstead, who was in the first phase of the food waste collection service, said: “It’s wonderful to have a weekly food waste collection. The service is reliable and a great way to make use of food waste that I can’t compost.”