Get ready to recycle your food waste, Southampton!

Weekly food waste collections start on 2 February 2026. Every household will get a shiny new kitchen caddy (for the scraps) and an outdoor bin (for the big stuff). Together, they’ll make it easier than ever to recycle those banana skins, tea bags, and leftovers that don’t belong in your general bin.

This isn’t just about bins. It’s about making food waste go further: from peelings to power, crusts to compost, scraps to soil.

• Check your collection day
• Order or ask about containers

Why recycle food waste?

Because banana skins deserve better than the black bin.

When food ends up in landfill, it rots and releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Not exactly a recipe for a healthy planet.

But when we recycle it, food waste becomes something useful:

• Energy: Anaerobic digestion turns scraps into biogas, which powers homes, buses, and businesses
• Soil food: Compost and fertiliser help grow tomorrow’s crops
• Less waste, more space: Around 25% of the average black bin is food – recycling it frees up room and boosts Southampton’s recycling rate.

So whether it’s potato peelings, stale bread, or last night’s leftovers, chuck them in your caddy. It’s the small stuff that adds up to a big difference.

Find out more about food waste

What goes in your caddy

Yes please – the tasty stuff for tomorrow’s compost and clean energy:

• Fruit & veg peelings, cores and scraps
• Bread, rice, pasta and cereal
• Meat & fish (cooked or raw), bones and shells
• Dairy leftovers (cheese, yoghurt, custard if you didn’t fancy it)
• Eggshells (the shell of breakfast champions)
• Tea bags* and coffee grounds (fuel for you, fuel for the planet)
• Plate scrapings and leftovers

*Some tea bags contain small amounts of plastic. If you can, choose plastic-free.

No thanks, these will just spoil the party:

• Liquids (oil, fat, gravy)
• Packaging (plastic, foil, film, pouches)
• Compostable/biodegradable packaging (unless we confirm it’s accepted)
• Garden waste, soil, cat/dog waste or nappies
• Large amounts of cooking oil (there are separate recycling options for that)

If in doubt, leave it out. Your caddy should be a five-star diner for scraps, not a dumping ground for everything else.

How collections work

For houses

• Put your outdoor food bin at the kerb by 6am on your collection day
• Keep lids closed – seagulls are nosy, but they’re not invited
• Use your kitchen caddy indoors and empty it regularly into the outdoor bin
• Once emptied, wheel your bin back onto your property

Missed collection? No problem – use the Report a missed bin service.

For flats & HMOs

• Use the communal food waste bins in your bin store or collection point
• Only loose food waste or approved liners
• Need signage or more bins? Speak to your managing agent first, then the council if needed

Caddies and liners

Kitchen caddy (indoor)

• Keep it close to where you prep food (under the sink, on the worktop – wherever suits your style)
• Lid down equals no smells, no fuss
• Empty it regularly into your outdoor food bin

Outdoor food bin

• Store it in a cool spot if you can
• Always keep the lid closed

Liners

• We’ll confirm which liners are accepted and how they’ll be supplied

Smells and pests

• Drain liquids (gravy, oils, sauces) before scraping scraps in.
• Rinse your caddy every so often – it’ll thank you.
• For trickier scraps (like fish), freeze them until collection day – a cool move in more ways than one.

Schools

From classroom to kitchen table

Southampton’s schools are already setting the pace, many pupils know their way around a food caddy better than the grown-ups! Now we want to bottle that enthusiasm and send it home.

Toolkit (coming October 2025)

Packed with lesson ideas, posters and activities to get pupils talking to parents and carers about food waste recycling.

Competitions

• October: Design our vehicle livery, your artwork could roll across the city.
• January: School and home poster designs, let creativity do the teaching.

Request the schools toolkit

xxx Sign up to the Schools bulletin xxxx

Community Champions

Be the voice of your community

We’re building a network of Community Champions – residents who can help spread the word about food waste recycling in their neighbourhoods.

Think of it as being the go-to guide for your patch: answering quick questions, sharing tips, cheering people on.

What it is (and isn’t):

• Sharing info, encouraging neighbours, flying the flag for food waste.
• No complaints handling, no door-knocking — leave that to the council.

Who makes a great champion?

• Housing association reps
• Residents’ group leads
• Enthusiastic locals who love making a difference

Short briefings and regular updates will be provided nearer launch.

Register your interest

Leaflets and translations

Your food waste library — everything in one place.

Here you’ll be able to download:

• The instructional leaflet (your caddy how-to guide)
• The caddy sticker (that little reminder stuck right on top)
• Posters for flats, communal bins, and schools
• Translated versions in key languages (Polish, Portuguese and more)
• Accessible formats – large print, plain text, audio on request

All translated leaflets will also be available via a QR code printed on your leaflet, so anyone can scan and go. Because good recycling guidance should speak everyone’s language.

xxxDownload leaflets & guidesxxx

Service updates

The latest scoop (pun fully intended).

We’ll post short, snappy updates here, so you know what’s happening and when:

Nov 2025: Food waste leaflets delivered citywide. Jan 2026: Expect your food waste caddy delivery, along with one roll of liners, an instructional leaflet and a caddy sticker

Feb 2026: Weekly collections begin – caddies at the ready!

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Contact us

Got a question?

• Service queries:
  • Report a missed bin collection
  • Report a lost bin
• General enquiries
• Flats/HMOs: contact your managing agent first, then the council if needed.
• Accessibility: request large print, audio or translated formats