Questions and answers about communal food waste recycling for landlords

Food waste recycling will begin at properties with communal waste collections from Monday 30 March 2026.

We have offered kerbside food waste recycling for houses since 2013, but new government legislation means we must include households with communal waste collections too, such as flats.

Collections will be on the same day each week. However, it might be on a different day or time to other waste collections, because a separate vehicle will be used to collect food waste.

Residents will be able to find out their collection date a couple of weeks before the service launches.

We will provide communal households with a free kitchen caddy and an orange-lidded communal food waste bin.

The kitchen caddies will be offered before the service launches and will be available for a limited time only. We will let you know how residents will be given their caddies nearer the time.

After we provide the first round of caddies, residents need to look after these and pay for replacements if needed. They can also buy their own kitchen caddy if they want to.

We recommend that their kitchen caddies and communal bins are lined to keep them clean and odour-free.

Compostable caddy liners can be bought at supermarkets, but  old newspaper, paper bags or kitchen roll can also be used instead.

To recycle their food waste, they need to:

1. line the kitchen caddy

2. scrape scraps into the caddy

3. when full, tie the caddy liner and take it to the outdoor communal food waste bin, as many times as needed during the week.

Although we will be providing large food waste bins to all existing communal properties, landlords and managing agents will be responsible for paying for any replacement bins. You can email us if you need to buy a new communal food waste bin.

It is also the joint responsibility of yourself and tenants to make sure the bins are kept clean and free of damage.

Early next year, a letter will be sent to all communal households letting them know of the new service. Residents can also find all the information that they need to start using the communal food waste recycling service.

We will also be sending out a leaflet to households which includes the basic information needed for residents to start recycling their food.

All free kitchen caddies and communal bins will also come with a sticker stating what food can be recycled.

Posters will be put up in communal areas telling residents where to empty their kitchen caddy and to get in touch with their landlord if they cannot find their communal bin.

Not if residents make sure to line their kitchen caddies and tie up the liners before emptying them into the communal food waste bin. Recycling food waste separately means they will have a cleaner, odour-free general waste bin.

The communal bin has an orange lid to help stop any smells getting out and pests getting in.

Yes - another benefit of recycling food waste separately is that it reduces the amount of waste in the general waste bin to help stop it from overflowing.

Food waste is typically made up of 70% water, which means processing it as part of general waste through incineration uses more energy.

As food recycling is a more energy and cost-efficient way of disposing of food, it helps us reduce the amount we spend on processing waste.

Also, feeding the biogas produced from recycling food back to the national grid is another way of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and helping to protect the environment.

Yes - even the smallest of scraps can make a difference. A single recycled banana peel can generate enough electricity to fully charge a smartphone twice, so it’s important that even those living in smaller households recycle their food waste.

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

The biogas is fed to the national grid as well as powering the plant itself and is an excellent alternative to fossil fuels.

Yes - we will still collect the black communal bin if it has food in it, but we’re calling on all residents to do their bit by recycling as much of their food waste as possible.

As a landlord or managing agent, we need your help to encourage tenants to use the service and how important it is for all households to recycle their food waste.

If you have a question about the new communal food waste recycling service, you can email us at wastecontract@canterbury.gov.uk.