Council approves weekly food waste collection for all households starting autumn 2025. The service aims to reduce waste, boost recycling, cut emissions, and support Newham’s climate goals.
Newham Council’s Cabinet has today (6 May) green-lit plans to introduce a new weekly food waste collection service for all households in the borough from next year. This is part of a national Central Government drive to reduce food waste, improve recycling rates, and help tackle climate change.
To roll out the new service, the Council has received £2.6million in grant funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). A further grant is expected to be confirmed in late spring 2025 to support the service.
Sarah Ruiz, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children Services and Education, said: "This is a major step forward in helping Newham reduce its carbon footprint and tackle climate change. By collecting food waste separately, we can cut greenhouse gas emissions, boost recycling, and reduce disposal costs, while creating useful by-products like fertiliser and clean energy. This is good for residents, good for our environment, and good for present and future generations of residents across our borough. It will also serve as a timely reminder of how much food we throw away and how we can save money by reducing waste.”
The food waste service will be phased, beginning in autumn 2025, with the aim of reaching all 137,000 households by April next year. Food waste from both kerbside, houses and flats will be collected weekly. The funding through DEFRA grants will be used for caddies, food bins and collection vehicles.
The new service will support the Council’s climate emergency response and its commitment to building a Fairer Newham with food waste currently making up a large portion of household waste - up to 247kg per household of four people annually. The service will help to divert this waste from being disposed of, to recycling or composting; this supports Newham’s Waste and Recycling Strategy with the aim of 35% of waste being reused, recycled, or composted by 2030.
In 2023, 75% of residents supported the idea of a dedicated food waste collection during consultation for the Council’s Waste and Street Cleansing Strategy.
Newham joins other East London boroughs in preparing for the mandated food waste service. Councils including Havering, Redbridge, and Barking and Dagenham are planning phased rollouts to meet the Government’s Simpler Recycling reforms under the Environment Act.
