Havering Council has been working hard behind the scenes to plan for the roll-out of a separate food waste service.
The large demand from a number of local authorities who, like Havering, are looking to roll out the service for the first time, has caused a delay in the delivery of the vehicles and these are now expected in October 2026 .
This means we will deliver the service after this date, later than originally planned.
The Council remains ahead of some other boroughs however, having already ordered its vehicles and is in the process of buying containers to be ready to deliver the service.
Concerns over limited funding and the ability to deliver the service has seen the Council continue to lobby the Government.
There is already limited funding from the Government to launch the service and Councils still do not know how much money they will actually receive to run it once it is in operation.
The Government has made separate food waste collections a requirement by law when it passed the Environment Act 2021.
This was for all Councils to have them in place by March 2026.
The introduction of a borough-wide separate food waste collection service will support the goal within Havering’s Climate Change Action Plan 2024-2027 to reduce the impact we have on the environment.
This includes helping to reduce waste across the borough and increase recycling as well as helping save money for residents through producing less waste.
Residents can act now by aiming to reduce avoidable food waste.
Food waste collected separately, instead of in the general black waste bags, can instead be recycled into fertiliser and biogas for generating energy.
It is also one way to help reduce our carbon footprint and further reduce reliance on landfill.
Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said:
“The introduction of a separate food waste collection is something we have to do by law.
"Yet, it is extremely disappointing that we are receiving limited funding from the Government to run the service, it doesn’t cover the full costs.
"I have already written to the Government about this and we’ll continue to lobby to try and fix this.
“Other Councils like ourselves, are also in this difficult position as we want to reduce the amount of waste we create and get rid of it in a cleaner and greener way.
"Yet we are not been given the right funding or support to do this.
“The aim of the service is to support residents, including our school children, to learn and play their role in helping to make Havering a more sustainable borough.
“Separate food waste collections will mean that scraps and left-over food can be put towards generating something useful such as electricity.
“It is vital we all do what we can to reduce the impact we have on the environment around us, but we need support to do this.”