Food waste
Weekly, free · Mandatory
Cooked and uncooked food, plate scrapings, peelings, tea bags. Most councils give you a kitchen caddy and a kerbside bin. Food waste can be collected mixed with garden waste.
What Simpler Recycling means for your bins
England's new household recycling rules went live on 31 March 2026. Your council should now be collecting food waste weekly, alongside separate collections for paper and card and other dry recyclables. Some councils were ready on day one. Others have a transitional exemption and are still catching up.
Households start date
31 Mar 2026
English councils tracked
296
Live food waste on Bin Day
56%
What Simpler Recycling actually changes
Simpler Recycling is the name Defra gave to a single set of household recycling rules that every council in England has to deliver. It replaces the patchwork of different schemes that used to vary street-by-street and bin-by-bin across the country.
The headline change is weekly food waste collection, free at the kerb. The other change is that paper and card now sit on their own (or in a clearly sorted mixed bin), with glass, metal, plastic and cartons handled together as the "other dry recyclables" bin. Garden waste stays optional, councils can still charge for it, and bin colours did not get standardised. None of this applies in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
A handful of councils were given a transitional exemption because their existing long-term disposal contracts made an immediate food waste service unworkable. Those councils have a published start date on their own websites, and they are the answer to "why is my English council still not collecting food waste in 2026?".
Rollout timeline
Three deadlines turn the policy on. The household one fell on 31 March 2026. The micro-firm and plastic film deadlines are still ahead.
31 March 2025
Workplaces with 10+ staff
31 March 2026
Households in England
31 March 2027
Micro-firms and plastic film
LiveLive Today
31 March 2025
Businesses must arrange separate collection of the core dry recyclable items.
31 March 2026
Weekly food waste, plus separate paper and card and other dry recyclables. Some councils have a transitional exemption.
31 March 2027
Workplaces with fewer than 10 staff must comply. Plastic film and bags get added to household recycling.
Five collections every English household should have
Defra requires four collections from every household, plus an optional garden waste service that councils can charge for. Bin colours still vary, but the contents are the same everywhere in England.
Garden waste
Fortnightly is typical · Service is optional, councils can charge
Grass, leaves, twigs, hedge trimmings. Councils only have to collect garden waste if you ask for the service and pay any charge. Annual fees usually sit between £30 and £75.
Paper and card
Councils set the cadence · Mandatory, kept separate by default
Paper, cardboard, envelopes, magazines. Councils can collect it mixed with other dry recyclables only if their sorting equipment can split it back out cleanly.
Other dry recyclables
Councils set the cadence · Mandatory
Glass bottles and jars, metal cans and foil, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, drinks cartons. Glass can be in its own bin where the council already runs one.
Residual waste
Most areas now move to fortnightly · Mandatory
The rubbish that cannot be recycled. Many councils that used to collect this weekly have moved to fortnightly to free up the rounds for food waste.
What changed for households on 31 March 2026
The practical changes a household will notice, with the pre-2026 baseline alongside the new position.
| Topic | Before | After 31 March 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Food waste | Optional in many areas. Plenty of councils collected nothing. | Mandatory weekly collection, free of charge to the household. |
| Paper and card | Often mixed in with the rest of recycling. | Kept separate unless the sorting plant can handle it mixed. |
| Plastic film | Carrier bags, bread bags and crisp packets had to go to a supermarket drop-off. | Added to household plastic recycling from 31 March 2027. |
| Residual waste cadence | Weekly or fortnightly depending on the council. | Many councils have moved residual to fortnightly to make room for the new weekly food collection. |
Is your council ready?
Search or browse below to see whether your English council collects food waste yet.
English councils collecting food waste
163 of 289
56%
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What businesses had to do
The workplace side of Simpler Recycling moved a year ahead of households. Any business in England with 10 or more full-time-equivalent employees has had to arrange separate collection of the core dry recyclable materials (paper, card, plastic, metal, glass, cartons) since 31 March 2025. Most arrange this through their existing commercial waste contractor.
Micro firms with fewer than 10 staff have a temporary exemption that runs to 31 March 2027. After that they have to comply too. Food waste collection for businesses follows broadly the same shape as the household rule, with the practical difference that there is no free council collection at the kerb. Commercial food waste goes through a paid contract.
This page focuses on the household side. The Defra policy update on Simpler Recycling has the detail for businesses.
Where Simpler Recycling does not apply
The policy is English, set by Defra. The rest of the UK runs its own household recycling rules.
-
Wales
Wales has run a separate national recycling regime for years. Welsh councils already collected food waste weekly and reached the highest recycling rate in the UK well before England's deadline.
-
Scotland
Scotland sets its own policy through the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland. Many Scottish councils already collect food waste, but the rules and timelines are different.
-
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs sets the policy. Local councils have rolled out food waste and dry recycling collections under their own timeline.
Common questions about Simpler Recycling
- Does Simpler Recycling apply where I live?
- Simpler Recycling is an England-only policy. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each have their own household recycling rules. Wales already runs a separate national recycling regime, and Scotland and Northern Ireland set their own.
- Why is my English council still not collecting food waste in May 2026?
- Some councils have a transitional exemption because their long-term waste disposal contracts (typically with mechanical biological treatment plants or energy-from-waste facilities) make a separate food collection unworkable in the short term. Defra's policy update permits a longer implementation period in those cases. Your council's website lists its planned start date. The household duty is law, the start date is not the same everywhere.
- Do I have to use the food waste caddy?
- There is no household fine for skipping it. Putting food waste in your residual bin means it ends up in landfill or burned, both of which are worse for emissions than composting. The collection is free and weekly. Most people who try the caddy for two weeks keep using it.
- Will my bins smell more now?
- Food waste is the smelliest thing in the residual bin in summer. Pulling it out into a sealed caddy that gets collected weekly usually reduces smells, not the other way round. Caddy liners and a tight lid handle the rest.
- Can my council still collect food waste with garden waste in one bin?
- Yes. Defra introduced an exemption that allows councils to co-collect food and garden waste in the same vehicle, on the basis that the mix can still be processed through in-vessel composting. This is the default in several rural councils.
- Will my council tax go up to pay for this?
- The new burden funding for Simpler Recycling came from central government, not council tax. Your garden waste subscription may have risen, but the new food waste service itself has to be free at the kerbside.
- What about flats and shared bins?
- The rules apply to flats too. Block managers and councils have been working out shared communal food waste bins through 2025 and into 2026. If your block does not have one yet, the council's waste team is the right contact.
- When does plastic film get added to recycling?
- 31 March 2027. From that date, plastic film (carrier bags, bread bags, crisp packets and similar) goes in your household plastic recycling. Until then, supermarket drop-off bins remain the main route.