Havering residents can expect weekly food waste collections by late 2026, following a decision made at the Place Overview & Scrutiny Sub Committee meeting on Tuesday 04 November 2025.

The Environment Act 2021 mandates that all local authorities provide separate weekly food waste collections to households by 31 March 2026. Havering Council has secured £1.89 million in capital funding towards the purchase of collection vehicles and containers.

The council's food waste collection vehicles are scheduled for delivery in September-October 2026. According to the Public Reports Pack, officers are procuring food waste caddies and liners to coincide with the vehicle arrivals, with service commencement expected in October 2026. The rollout will be implemented in phases by ward/round to ensure a smoother transition. Following the rollout to kerbside properties, flats will be addressed to ensure appropriate installations are in place.

The council has budgeted £4.0 million annually to cover service costs from 2026/27 onwards, with an anticipated £1.5 million annual contribution from DEFRA. Havering's Communications Team will continue to play a role in ensuring that the public is kept updated on the service rollout, to ensure residents are well informed and enable a good take-up of the service.

According to the Food Waste Service Update, DEFRA has confirmed £0.072m project management costs for 2024/25, which have been moved into 2025/26, however there is no funding available for project management in 2026/27.

DEFRA's position is that the available evidence it has around the benefit of providing liners to increase participation is inconclusive, and it has written to Councils stating that no funding will be provided.

Havering officers have carried out some independent research to obtain an understanding of the impact of liner provision on participation rates and material capture.  A 30% higher tonnage capture of food waste through the provision of liners and targeted communications has been assumed, taking a rough average of capture rates observed in other boroughs.

The timing of the service rollout is largely dependent on manufacturing markets at present, particularly vehicles. Havering's waste contractor, FCC, obtained quotes from a number of well-regarded manufacturers in the industry, seeking to ensure a balance between value for money and reasonable lead times. At the time the decision was made on the manufacturer, Faun Zoller, they provided both the cheapest quote and the shortest lead time. The order has been placed with the manufacture, with the fleet delivery date being in September / October 2026.

Three options were considered, with Option 2 being chosen as the preferred option based on the practicalities around service roll-out and vehicle lead time:

  • Option 1: Full roll-out from Autumn 2026.
  • Option 2: Phased implementation by ward / round from Autumn 2026.
  • Option 3: Implement a partial roll-out based on funding received (subject to vehicle delivery lead times).

The Food Waste Service Update recommends a phased implementation by ward/round from Autumn 2026, which would facilitate a smoother rollout. Flats would be addressed following the rollout to kerbside properties to ensure adequate attention is paid to appropriate installations.