More than 70,000 households across Charnwood are set to receive food waste caddies ahead of the launch of weekly collections in November.

Delivery of food waste caddies will get underway for most Charnwood households from Monday, 28 September 2026.

Charnwood Borough Council recently announced it is working with its recycling and refuse partner Serco to roll out a weekly food waste recycling service for more than 70,000 homes from week commencing 2 November 2026.

 Deliveries will be staggered over a four-week period between Monday, 28 September and Friday, 23 October 2026.

Your caddy pack may be delivered on a different day to your usual bin day.

The caddy pack will be left on the kerbside outside the property. Residents are urged to take it inside and only start recycling food waste the week before their first collection.

 Each household will receive two caddies, one for inside the home and the other to place outside for collection. There will also be a supply of liners for the indoor caddy, and some handy information about the new service.

 In addition, residents will find a reflective sticker inside which can be applied to the side of the outdoor caddy to help make it more visible for the Serco crews in the darker mornings and evenings.

 More information on when residents can expect to receive their caddy pack can be found on the Council’s website at: www.charnwood.gov.uk/CaddyDelivery. 

There are no changes to bin collection days.

 Food waste bins will be collected on the same day as your green or black bin when the service starts from week beginning 2 November 2026.

Cllr Anne Gray, Lead Member for Waste, Open Spaces and Leisure Facilities said: “We’ll soon be delivering caddy packs to doorsteps across the borough and over 20,000 packs are due to be delivered in the first week.

“The caddy pack includes everything you need to know and how to use the service.

“Please keep an eye out for your caddies once they are delivered and take them inside. I appreciate this is a big change, but I would encourage you to give food waste recycling a try once the service gets underway.”

Collections for households with communal bin store areas such as flats and sheltered accommodation are scheduled to start in 2027. These properties will receive caddy packs closer to their start date next year.

 Weekly food waste collections are being introduced to meet the Government’s Simpler Recycling rules, which require all councils in England to collect food waste separately.

The changes aim to reduce the amount of waste in black bins and carbon emissions.

The collected food waste will be taken to an anaerobic digestion facility where it is used to generate biogas, a renewable energy which is a cleaner and cheaper alternative to fossil fuels. The process also produces nutrient rich fertiliser for farms.

 More information about the introduction of food waste collections including frequently asked questions can be found on the Council’s website at www.charnwood.gov.uk./foodwaste.

To stay up to date about the roll out of food waste in Charnwood, residents are encouraged to sign up for the Council’s free email alerts by visiting http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/alerts.