Bexley is on course to meet the Simpler Recycling target date set by the Government, which requires every household in England to have weekly food waste collections by 1 April 2026.
With recent stories in the national media reporting that as many as one in four Councils will miss the implementation deadline, Bexley is ahead of the pack, with the rollout almost complete.
Currently, in Bexley, 90% of flats in blocks, 78% of flats above shops and 97.4% of all properties have a food waste collection.
By the end of this month, March 2026, a further 2,500 more residential flats in Bexley will have been provided with our free weekly food waste service with each flat receiving a free 23L food waste box, a kitchen caddy and a leaflet showing what can and cannot be recycled - all delivered directly to their door by our Simpler Recycling Officers.
Bexley’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods Cllr Richard Diment said:
Bexley was one of the first Councils in England to introduce a free weekly food waste service for houses and we’ve always led the way with new recycling initiatives so it’s not surprising that we are on course to meet the DEFRA Simpler Recycling implementation date when others are not.
Over the past year we have dedicated staff resource and time to this, with Simpler Recycling Officers going out to those flats and houses in the borough, that didn’t previously have access to our free food waste service.”
No amount of food recycling is too small with Bexley’s food recycling used to generate energy. Recycling just six teabags generates enough green energy to boil the kettle to make another cuppa.
You can request your free food recycling caddy and find out more about our weekly food recycling service by visiting our Reduce and recycle your food waste page.