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Food waste recycling starting - Kettering and Wellingborough areas

We are introducing a free weekly food waste recycling service to the Kettering and Wellingborough areas in 2026.

This will harmonise the service with Corby and East Northamptonshire areas and by law, we will need to provide this service to all households.

About 30% of household waste is food waste - by recycling this you will save space in your black bin and reduce smells from the bin. Because it will be collected weekly, it's less likely to attract pests than leaving it in your general waste bin for 2 weeks.

The service will start shortly after delivering caddies to residents (delivery dates will be confirmed soon).

Caddies

We will deliver a 23-litre caddy and a smaller 5-litre kitchen caddy (for day-to-day use between collections).

The collection caddy has a locking lid so it's secure from wild animals.

Collections

The collection caddy should be placed alongside your refuse or recycling bin to be emptied every week.

It will be emptied by another vehicle at a different time of day.

Waste

Recycling the material is better for the environment than sending it for disposal.

Composting is great way of recycling some food waste such as fruit and vegetable peelings. So if you can compost some of your food waste at home, please continue.

A lot of food waste cannot be composted at home such as leftovers, dairy products, meat and bones. These can be recycled.

Food waste doesn't need to be bagged - but it can be wrapped in newspaper or you can use compostable bags if you want to keep the caddy clean

The food collection can be used for:

  • leftovers
  • fruit or vegetable peelings (including apple cores, banana skins, cherry stones, etc)
  • raw or cooked meat, fish or bones
  • nutshells
  • eggshells
  • coffee grounds and teabags
  • bread, pastry, pasta and rice
  • cheese or dairy products
  • leftover petfood (tinned or dry)
  • small amounts of cooking oil soaked into newspaper

You can't use it for: 

  • packaging such as cardboard, foil, glass and plastic bags or containers
  • garden waste
  • cat litter or dog poo
  • bedding from pets
  • liquids (except small amounts of cooking oil soaked into newspaper)

Uses

Food waste will be processed locally at an anaerobic digestor (AD) facility. Food is digested in giant tanks using natural bacteria and the methane-rich biogas produced is captured. This is used to generate electricity that is fed into the grid.

A compost-like residue is also produced which is used as a soil improver for farming.

Last updated 28 November 2025