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We collect food waste every week from all houses and flats in Bedford Borough.

Using your food waste caddy and outdoor bin helps:

  • keep your kitchen and black bin less smelly
  • reduce the amount of waste sent to the energy recovery site in Stewartby
  • turn leftovers into renewable energy for the National Grid and a liquid fertiliser for local farms.

How the service works

What you get

  • A small kitchen caddy for indoors.
  • A larger outdoor food waste bin for kerbside collection each week.

If you live in a flat, you may have other arrangements, learn more about Recycling and waste services for flats

If you need a replacement food waste bin or kitchen caddy, you can request one via our Replace damaged or missing bins and food caddies page.

What to do each week

  1. Put food waste in your kitchen caddy (you can line it with any clear or translucent plastic bag, paper or newspaper - see “Liners, bags and cleaning” below). 
  2. When the caddy is full, tie the liner (if using one) and empty it into your outdoor food waste bin.
  3. Put your outdoor food waste bin at the usual collection point for your bins by 6am on your collection day. Food waste is collected weekly, but may be emptied at a different time to your other bins.

Councillor Nicky Gribble, portfolio Holder for Environment, explains in this video: 

You can check your collection day and download your calendar at our Check your bin day webpage.

If your bin is ever not collected, report it here within two days on our Report a missed bin webpage. You’ll also be able to see if there was a reason why your bin was not collected, such as it being contaminated with something that shouldn’t be in there.

What goes in your food waste bin

You can put in

  • raw and cooked food, including plate scrapings and leftovers
  • fruit, vegetables, bread, rice, pasta, cereals and baked goods
  • meat, fish and small bones that fit in the kitchen caddy
  • dairy products, eggs and eggshells
  • tea bags, coffee grounds and solidified cooking oils/fats
  • pet food (but not pet litter, bedding or excrement)
  • out‑of‑date food (remove packaging where possible, loose food in clear plastic bags is OK)

Do not put in

  • packaging such as tins, bottles, foil, and plastic trays (give these a quick rinse and place them in your orange-lidded bin)
  • liquids like milk, juice and hot or cold oils
  • garden waste, soil, stones, plastic plant pots (use your green bin or the Household Waste Recycling Centre)
  • glass, metal, wood and cardboard (check the Recycling Locator) 
  • animal waste and bedding (general waste bin)
  • coffee pods, disposable cups, cutlery and “compostable” or “biodegradable” packaging - these do not break down quickly enough for the process used 
  • large fruit stones (e.g. avocado, peach) where possible - they don’t break down easily, but one or two by accident won’t stop collection.
  • Large meat bones that won’t fit in your kitchen caddy

If we find the wrong items, your bin may not be collected. We’ll leave a tag explaining what needs to change for the next collection. 

Liners, bags and cleaning

You can use a clear or translucent plastic bag, or paper, to line your caddy

Bedford Borough residents can line their kitchen caddies with:

  • bread bags, cereal bags, crisp packets and other thin snack bags
  • salad, frozen vegetable or other thin food bags
  • lightweight carrier bags (not heavy “bags for life”)
  • pedal bin liners or similar thin plastic bags
  • newspaper or scrap paper if you prefer a plastic‑free option
  • compostable liners

Once full, place the liner in your outdoor food waste bin.

You do not have to use a liner - you can just rinse the caddy after it’s emptied. 

All bags and paper are removed at the recycling facility before the food waste is processed.

Cleaning your caddies

  • Rinse with water if needed - using a liner reduces how often you need to clean. 
  • Keep lids closed (handle down at the front or upright) to reduce smells and deter pests. 

Why recycling your food waste matters

Putting food waste in your caddy instead of the black bin helps to:

  • cut the amount of waste sent to the Energy Recovery Facility in Stewartby - food waste is very wet and is better treated separately in a specialist anaerobic digestion facility.
  • turn leftovers into renewable energy for the National Grid and nutrient‑rich liquid fertiliser used on local farmland.
  • free up space in your black bin and help control disposal costs, so more of the Council’s budget can go to other local services.

Reducing food waste at home

The new service has helped many households see how much food they’re throwing away and to consider how to reduce this and save money. You can use the Love Food Hate Waste website for practical tips to:

  • plan meals and shop smarter
  • store food to make it last longer
  • use leftovers creatively
  • understand date labels so good food isn’t wasted unnecessarily

Visit Love Food Hate Waste

Simple changes can save an average family hundreds of pounds a year while cutting waste and emissions.

Common questions about food waste collections

Why did Bedford Borough introduce food waste collections?

From 1 April 2026, all councils in England must now provide weekly food waste collections under the Environment Act 2021. 

Bedford Borough Council launched the service on 30 March 2026 to meet this duty and improve local recycling rates, using government funding to support the rollout.

Won’t this make my kitchen smell?

Most residents find that separating food waste actually makes their kitchen and black wheelie bin less smelly, because:

  • food is kept in a small, lidded caddy indoors
  • the outdoor food waste bin is collected weekly, so food doesn’t sit for long

Will it attract rats, foxes or other pests?

Using a robust, lidded outdoor bin with the handle locked down, putting it out on the correct day and not overfilling it all help deter animals. 

Weekly collections also reduce the time food sits in your bin compared to fortnightly black bin collections.

Experience locally since collections started and from other councils shows this setup does not increase pest problems when used correctly. 

How will food waste collections work if I live in a flat?

How you dispose of food waste depends on your property:

  • Some flats have their own outdoor food waste bin with weekly kerbside collection.
  • Others use a communal silver‑lidded food waste wheelie bin in the bin store.
  • Some use a nearby food waste collection point.

Find out more and locate communal bins or collection points on the Recycling and waste services for flats page.

I compost food or feed it to my pets or wild birds - do I still need a food waste bin?

Yes, for items that:

  • aren’t suitable for home composting (cooked food, meat, dairy)
  • aren’t safe for pets (eg grapes, chocolate, spoiled or mouldy food)
  • could cause harm to feed to birds, wildlife and pets. 

You can keep composting and feeding safe scraps and use the food waste caddy for everything else. 

I have a food waste disposal unit in my sink – do I still need to use the food waste bin?

Sink disposals are only for small amounts of soft food. Items that can damage them include:

  • cooked food and leftovers
  • meat, fish and bones
  • coffee grounds and tea bags
  • fibrous peelings (eg celery, sweetcorn husks)
  • solidified fats and greasy food. 

These should go in your food waste caddy instead, protecting your plumbing and ensuring the waste is recycled into energy and fertiliser. 

Can I leave out just the small kitchen caddy?

No. Only the larger outdoor food waste bin is collected. The small caddy is for indoor use only.

Can I use a different small container inside my home instead of the Council caddy?

Yes. You can use any lidded container you prefer indoors (eg an old ice cream tub). Keep the Council caddy in case your needs change in future. 

Can I have a second outdoor food bin?

Only one outdoor food bin is provided per household. If it’s filling quickly, it may be a good time to look at food waste reduction tips on the Love Food Hate Waste site.

Are food waste bins included in assisted collections?

Yes. If you cannot move your bins to the roadside due to a disability or medical condition, you may be eligible for assisted collection.
See our Assisted collection webpage.

Why can’t I put food waste in my green lidded bin?

Your green bin is for garden waste only and is composted in open windrows, which is not suitable for food waste. 

Food waste:

  • attracts pests and produces strong odours in open composting
  • does not break down safely or effectively in that system

Food waste collected separately is treated in a sealed, high‑temperature anaerobic digestion system, which is why it’s collected separately.

What happens to my food waste after collection?

Food waste is sent to a specialist anaerobic digestion facility (Biogen), where microorganisms break it down without oxygen. This produces:

  • biogas, which is converted into renewable energy
  • a nutrient‑rich liquid digestate used as fertiliser on farmland

Plastic bags and other packaging are removed early in the process. The digestate is tested to PAS110 standards to ensure it is safe for use on fields. Removed plastics are sent to approved treatment facilities (currently Veolia at Ling Hall).

Does running extra weekly collections harm the environment?

Carbon modelling shows that although additional collections create some emissions, these are outweighed by the benefits of recycling food waste into energy and fertiliser, resulting in lower overall carbon emissions.

What about food waste collections for business and commercial premises?

For information about commercial food waste and recycling services visit our Business waste and recycling webpage.

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