BIN REVOLUTION: Weekly Food Waste Collections Coming To Every Waterlooville Home From March

GET ready to sort your scraps.

From March 31st 2026, every household in the Havant borough — including Waterlooville — will receive weekly food waste collections. It is the biggest change to bin day in years, and it is coming whether you like it or not.

The scheme is part of a government push to reduce the amount of food rotting in landfills, where it releases harmful greenhouse gases. Instead, your banana peels and chicken bones will be recycled into fertiliser and biogas.

Sounds great in theory. But will it actually work?

What Is Changing?

Here is the deal: you will receive a small kitchen caddy to collect food waste inside your home, plus a larger outdoor food bin for collection day.

The collections will happen WEEKLY — yes, every single week — which is more frequent than your current recycling or general waste pickups. The logic? Food waste gets smelly fast, and nobody wants rotting prawn shells festering in the garage for a fortnight.

What Can Go In?

The list of accepted items is pretty comprehensive:

• ✓Food scraps including eggshells
• ✓Meat and fish (cooked or raw, including bones)
• ✓Bread, rice and pasta
• ✓Teabags and coffee grounds
• ✓Fruit and vegetables

Basically, if you ate it (or tried to), it can probably go in. The council is keen to stress this is for UNAVOIDABLE food waste — they are not encouraging you to throw away perfectly good food just because you now have somewhere to put it.

Why Is This Happening?

Two words: legal requirement.

The Environmental Act 2021 mandated that all councils in England must provide separate food waste collections. Havant Borough Council does not have a choice here — it is do it or face consequences.

But there are genuine environmental benefits too. Councillor Netty Shepherd, Cabinet lead for Commercial, put it bluntly:

"

Introducing weekly food waste collections will significantly reduce the amount of waste that is going to landfill. We have a legal requirement to reach 65% recycling rate by 2035 — that is more than twice the amount the borough is currently achieving.

— Councillor Netty Shepherd

Twice the current rate. That is a big ask. Food waste collections alone will not get them there, but it is a significant step.

Who Is Paying For This?

Here is the good news: it is NOT coming out of your council tax.

The scheme is funded by a £1.2 million grant from DEFRA (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), with additional funding on top. That money covers the caddies, food bins, and specialist collection vehicles needed to make this work.

So for once, central government is actually paying for something it mandated. Small mercies.

The Numbers

Let us talk statistics. Havant Borough currently has a recycling rate of just 30%. That is... not great. The national average hovers around 44%, and the legal target is 65% by 2035.

Food waste makes up a surprisingly large chunk of what ends up in general rubbish. Studies suggest around 30% of household bin contents could be food waste. If even half of that gets diverted to the new food bins, the recycling rate should jump significantly.

The council estimates a 25% reduction in overall waste. Ambitious? Yes. Achievable? We will see.

Lessons From Elsewhere

Other areas have already rolled out food waste collections with... mixed results.

In the New Forest, the rollout started in June 2025. It has not been entirely smooth. Residents in some areas reported problems with free-roaming livestock — including donkeys and ponies — eating from the bins and knocking them over.

Waterlooville does not have a donkey problem (yet), but there will inevitably be teething issues. Foxes and cats rummaging through poorly secured bins. Confusion about what can and cannot go in. The occasional bin blown over in a storm.

It will take time for the new system to bed in.

What About Flats?

Good question. If you live in a flat, the arrangements might be slightly different. Communal food waste bins are likely, though the council has not released full details for all property types yet.

More information is promised "during the coming months" via the council website, social media, and the Your Borough monthly e-newsletter.

The Bottom Line

Like it or not, food waste collections are coming. The environmental case is strong — food in landfill is genuinely problematic for climate change. The financial case is neutral for residents. The practical case... well, that remains to be seen.

Another bin to remember. Another thing to sort. But potentially a meaningful contribution to reducing your household environmental footprint.

March 31st 2026. Mark your calendars. And maybe start practicing your scraps-sorting skills.