From Monday 27 April 2026, we will begin separate weekly food waste collections for most households, except those who use communal waste bins.
We’ll collect food waste on the same day we collect your general waste and recycling, from a new food waste caddy that will be delivered before the food collection service begins.
Recycling food waste saves energy, as well as money, so the more food everyone recycles, the better it is for the environment and Council Taxpayers.
Your food waste caddies
During March and April 2026, we’ll provide you with a small grey food waste caddy for indoors, and a larger black and orange caddy for outdoors.
Your small grey caddy
Most people keep this container indoors, usually in the kitchen.
You can choose to line this caddy with a compostable liner (available from most supermarkets) or with newspaper. Never use plastic bags in this caddy.
Your black and orange outdoor caddy
Once your grey kitchen caddy is full or it begins to smell, empty the contents into your black and orange food waste caddy and lock the lid.
The caddy is locked when the handle is in the upright position.
Put this caddy next to your general waste and recycling by 7am on your usual collection day and we’ll empty it.
What goes in your caddy
You can put all cooked and raw food in your caddy, including:
- Leftovers
- Out of date & mouldy food
- Meat & fish bones
- Tea bags & coffee grounds
- Egg, nut & seafood shells
- Fruit & vegetable peelings
- Pet food
Turning your food waste into energy
About 30% of our household waste, by weight, is made up of cooked and raw food. All food waste we collect will be taken to an ‘anaerobic digestion’ plant near Kings Hill where bacteria break down the food to produce natural biogas.
The gas is captured and used for cooking, electricity production and other purposes and even powers the anaerobic digestion plant. This is a renewable form of energy, which is better for the environement than using fossil fuel.
This process also creates a nutritious plant food used in farming, so nothing goes to waste!
Watch a video about anaerobic digestion
Food waste collections will save taxpayers' money
It costs Kent County Council approximately £130 to dispose of every tonne of food waste that is treated as general waste. Food waste sent to an anaerobic digestion plant costs a fraction of this, just £10 for every tonne, saving a £110 per tonne!
We expect to collect at least 5,000 tonnes of food waste every year, saving Kent County Council a minimum of £600,0000 per annum. These savings will help to protect their services.
Food waste collections will improve our recycling rates
To protect the environment, improve the economy, incentivise waste reduction, reduce landfill and improve the re-use and recycling of materials, the Government has set ever increasing recycling rate targets on local councils for decades. The current recycling rate target for councils is 55%, rising to 65% by 2035. Many councils already exceed these targets but with a current rate of only about 38%, Sevenoaks District has some way to go.
Offering food waste collections will align us with the majority of other councils in the UK and will help increase our recycling rates, helping us to move towards the Government target.