Food waste services for your flat or communal property

From Monday 30 March 2026, we will be launching a new food waste recycling service for properties with communal waste collections, like flats.

Using your communal bin and caddy

Your kitchen caddy

We will give you with a free 5-litre kitchen caddy and orange-lidded communal food waste bin. 

This will be delivered to your doorstep a couple of weeks before collections are set to start at the end of March 2026.

If we can’t deliver your caddy to you because of access to your building, we will work with your landlord or managing agent to get your caddy to you another way.

Lining your caddy

You should line your caddy using compostable caddy liners which can be purchased at supermarkets, but you can also use newspaper, paper bags or kitchen roll instead.

Please do not use plastic bags, such as carrier bags, because these won’t compost.

Your communal bin

We will also give you an orange-lidded communal food waste bin for you to empty your waste into. This will usually be stored with the rest of your communal bins.

If you can't find your communal food bin, please get in touch with your landlord.

If you don’t have a landlord because you own your property or you are a council tenant, you can get in touch with our bins and waste team on 01227 947 860.

How to recycle your food waste

1. Line your kitchen caddy.

2. Scrape your food waste into the kitchen caddy.

3. When it is full, tie up the liner and put the bag into your communal food waste bin outside as many times as you need during that week.

What food you can and can’t recycle

You can recycle all your food waste, including:

• All uneaten food and plate scrapings
• Raw and cooked meat
• Raw and cooked fish
• Bones
• Fruit, vegetables and peelings
• Dairy products
• Eggs
• Tea bags
• Coffee grounds
• Rice, pasta and beans
• Bread and pastries
• Any mouldy or out-of-date food, including ready meals

You should not put any of these materials in your caddy:

• Packaging of any kind
• Liquids such as milk
• Oil or liquid fat
• Any material that is not food waste

You can also find out what other food waste can and can't go in your caddy.

Your bin collection

You can search for your collection day a couple of weeks before the service launches.

Your food waste will be collected on the same day each week, but it might be on a different day to your other waste collections.

If your collection was missed

If your food bin hasn’t been collected, you can report it to us. You must let us know by midnight on the day after your collection date.

Report a missed food waste collection

How your food is recycled

When food waste is recycled, it is taken to an anaerobic digestion facility Kent where it is turned into biogas (a natural source of energy) and a fertiliser used in farming.

The biogas is fed to the national grid and powers the plant itself which is an excellent alternative to fossil fuels.

You can also find out more about how your food waste is recycled and what it is used for.

Why it’s important to separate your food waste

Since food waste is made up of 70% water, processing it as part of your general waste through incineration uses more energy. This means recycling is a more energy and cost-efficient way of disposing of your food.

Feeding the biogas produced from recycling food back to the national grid is also another way of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Recycling your food scraps not only helps us reduce the amount they spend on processing your waste, but it also plays a big part in helping to protect the environment. For example, a single recycled banana peel can generate enough electricity to fully charge your smartphone twice.

Questions about your collections

You can find extra details about food waste recycling in your communal property, including what equipment we will provide you with, when collections will start and how to report a damaged bin.