Food waste collections start on 5 April 2027
Every home in Ashby Valley will get a weekly food waste collection. You don't need to do anything yet.
What changes
Right now, food goes in your rubbish bin. From 5 April 2027, it goes in a small caddy that we empty every week.
- Food waste: every week
- Recycling: every 2 weeks, as now
- Rubbish: every 2 weeks, as now
- Garden waste: every 2 weeks from March to November, if you pay for it
Because the smelly food goes every week, your rubbish bin will be lighter and cleaner between collections.
Your caddies
We'll deliver two caddies to every home between 1 and 26 March 2027:
- A small kitchen caddy with a lid, for your worktop or under the sink.
- A larger outdoor caddy with a locking handle that foxes can't open.
If you live in a flat with shared bins, we'll put a large shared food bin next to them and give you a kitchen caddy.
What goes in the caddy
All food, cooked or raw. If you're not sure, put it in. We'd rather sort it at the plant than send it to landfill.
| Yes, please | No, thank you |
|---|---|
| Fruit and vegetable peelings | Plastic bags and wrapping |
| Meat, fish and bones | Liquids like milk and oil |
| Tea bags and coffee grounds | Garden waste |
| Bread, rice, pasta and cereal | Pet waste |
Collection days
Your food caddy is collected on the same day as your other bins, every week. Check your bin day if you're not sure.
Important: Put the caddy out by 7am
Crews start early. Put it at the edge of your property with the handle locked down.
If you need help
If nobody at your home can carry the caddy to the edge of the property, we can collect it from your door. This is called an assisted collection and it's free.
Call us or send us a message. Tell us your address and why you need help. For example:
Why we're doing this
About a third of what goes in Ashby Valley's rubbish bins is food. Sent to landfill, it rots and makes methane. Collected separately, it's turned into electricity and fertilizer for farms in the valley.
We tried weekly food collections in 1,200 homes in Northfold from September 2025. Rubbish bins were a third lighter, and 9 in 10 households kept using the caddy after 6 months.
- 202141.2%
- 202242.8%
- 202344.1%
- 202445.0%
- 202546.3%
- 202647.9%
- Ashby Valley (values under each year)
- Average for similar councils, 44.2% in 2026
The scale starts at 35%.
Show the data as a table
| Year | Ashby Valley | Similar councils |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41.2% | 42.0% |
| 2022 | 42.8% | 42.5% |
| 2023 | 44.1% | 43.1% |
| 2024 | 45.0% | 43.4% |
| 2025 | 46.3% | 43.9% |
| 2026 | 47.9% | 44.2% |
Downloads
-
Food caddy leaflet: what goes in and when Updated 2 November 2026 Need it in large print, audio, Easy Read or another language? Ask for a different format.
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Northfold trial results by street Updated 14 September 2026