The final and biggest phase of the food waste collections rollout, covering 76,000 households, starts on Monday, 9 March.
Households in central Brighton and Hove, Hanover, Kemptown, Queen’s Park, Roundhill, Seven Dials and Whitehawk are included in this final phase which will complete the food waste collections service for households in the whole city – just over 136,000 properties.
Most residents have received their starter packs, with the last ones being delivered imminently. You can look up your food waste collection day on our website.
Due to the scale of the final phase, we’ve been installing 600 communal on-street bins as well as bins for flats since the beginning of January. These currently have tape covering the lids which will be removed a few days before collections start.
Food waste collections have shown steady growth since they started in the east of the city in September 2025, with phase 2 coming on stream in October and phase 3 in December.
Weekly tonnage has increased from 6 tonnes in the first week to 1,029 tonnes of food waste collected across 3 areas up to 20 February – that’s 17,150 wheelie bins worth or 93.5 fully laden refuse trucks diverted from waste to recycling.
After collection, Brighton & Hove’s food waste is turned into compost and soil improver to help grow more food.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “We’ve invested £1.2 million in our new weekly food waste service so all households, whether in a flat, kerbside or communal area, will be able to recycle their food waste.
“We wanted to bring in food waste recycling to everyone as soon as possible and have introduced collections in stages so that we can learn from and build on the successes of each area. This has helped us make sure the distribution of equipment and collections go as smoothly as possible.
“The take-up of the scheme so far has been incredible, and I want to thank residents for tackling food waste and helping to divert over a thousand tonnes of food waste from incineration to be put to good use. Food waste recycling is a truly circular process, taking what would be thrown away, turning it into compost and reusing it to grow more food.”
Residents can now put all cooked and uncooked food waste in their caddies, instead of the waste bin. This includes unpackaged bread, pasta and rice, fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and bones, dairy, tea bags and coffee grounds.
Contamination has also been very low. Please keep this up by making sure just food waste goes into your caddy and using compostable caddy liners only. No packaging, liquids or any other waste.
Residents with their own orange lidded outdoor food waste caddy should leave them on the edge of properties where crews can easily see them. Place the handle upright to keep the lid secure.
The advice is to put food waste out for collection either the night before or by 5am on collection day. Crews are out collecting between 5am and 10pm.
Some blocks of flats will have access to a shared food waste bin instead of individual outdoor caddies. Communal on-street households will be able to use the shared on-street food waste bins as often as they need to. Our dedicated food waste crews will collect regularly.
Brighton & Hove’s new food waste collection service is shining a light on how much food we throw away at home. Food waste makes up more than a third of the waste found in household bins. Potatoes are the most thrown away food item: in the UK we throw away 8.2 million potatoes a day – nearly half (41%) of all the potatoes we buy.
Join the free food waste webinar on 11 March hosted by Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. Discover how to make the most of your food waste collection and pick up useful tips on reducing food waste.
Find out more about food waste collections on our website where you can also order a replacement caddy and report a missed collection.
Developing a circular economy, expanding the materials we collect, making recycling easier and working with residents to re-use resources and reduce waste, are key objectives of our Council Plan, and our goal to create an accessible, clean and sustainable city.
Brighton & Hove’s new food waste collections service has been supported by a grant from the UK Government.
