Weekly food waste collections will start in the Borough of Havant during Spring 2026, enabling you to boost the amount you recycle. This major change will help residents recycle more, reduce what goes to incineration, and turn leftovers into something genuinely useful.
When the service starts, your food waste will be collected weekly on the same day as your rubbish and recycling collections, unless we contact you to tell you otherwise. The service will be introduced in phases, starting with a pilot area within the Borough before rolling out to all households.
This page will be updated as the service is rolled out to keep residents informed of the latest information.
Why are you introducing food waste collections?
Required under the Environment Act 2021, 'Simpler Recycling' aims to increase household recycling rates by making it easier for people to recycle the same materials across the country.
Working with Portsmouth City Council, food waste collected in the borough of Havant will be sent for anaerobic digestion, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make use of food leftovers.
What will be collected?
The types of food waste that will be collected separately include:
- Fruit and vegetable peelings, cores, and skins
- Plate scrapings and food scraps, including eggshells
- Bread, rice, and pasta that can no longer be eaten
- Teabags and coffee grounds
- Cooked or raw meat and fish that can no longer be eaten, including bones
Residents will be provided with information ahead of time of the materials that can and cannot be recycled in their food waste bin. Residents will be provided with an outdoor food waste bin for kerbside collection, as well as a kitchen caddy to collect food waste in the home.
What you need to know
- Alternate weekly household waste collections will continue as normal
- Weekly food waste collections will begin in Spring 2026
- There will be no change to materials collected in your recycling bins
- Please continue to recycle your glass at our glass banks. Further information for our glass sites can be found here
- Please continue to recycle your hard plastics at our plastic banks. Further information for our plastic recycling sites can be found here
- Garden waste subscription services and Bulky Waste collections will continue as usual
What happens until the new service starts?
All services will remain unchanged until the new food waste collections are in place. Residents will receive notification of the changes ahead of time.
What happens to my food waste?
Food waste is recycled into biogas, which contains natural gas, a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels. The process also produces valuable soil enhancers, including nutrient-rich compost and liquid fertiliser.