Updated July 2026 · Better Recycling
Suffolk Food Waste Bins & Caddy Guide
Weekly collections from June 2026 — how the two caddies work, what goes in, and what to do if yours is missing.
How Suffolk’s food waste caddies work
Most households received two food waste containers as part of Better Recycling:
Indoors
5 litre kitchen caddy
Small enough for a worktop or under the sink. Use day-to-day for scraps, then empty into the outdoor bin.
Outdoors
23 litre lockable food bin
Leave outside and present for weekly collection. Lock the lid between collections.
Food waste is collected by dedicated crews, even when it shares a weekday with refuse or recycling.
What goes in the food waste bin
Yes — put these in
- •Leftover food, plate scrapings and peelings
- •Meat and fish (cooked or raw), including bones
- •Fruit, vegetables and salad (including mouldy food)
- •Bread, pasta, rice and cereal
- •Eggshells and dairy products
- •Tea bags and coffee grounds
- •Leftover pet food (wet or dry)
No — keep these out
- •Packaging, wrappers, foil or plastic
- •Garden waste, hedge clippings or soil
- •Windfall / fallen fruit (use garden waste where accepted)
- •Loose liquids and cooking oil
- •Nappies, sanitary products or animal faeces
When in doubt, check your council leaflet or Suffolk Recycles.
Collection days and the wider bin changes
Food waste is weekly everywhere in Suffolk. Other bin frequencies vary by council:
- Babergh & Mid Suffolk — weekly food; refuse, paper/card and mixed recycling typically every three weeks.
- East Suffolk — weekly food; residual waste often three-weekly, with separate paper/card and mixed recycling.
- West Suffolk — weekly food; black residual often fortnightly; blue and green-lidded recycling typically every four weeks.
- Ipswich — weekly food plus green paper/card and blue mixed recycling; check your Ipswich calendar for residual weeks.
Use our bin collection day checker rather than an old fridge magnet.
Missing bins, flats and tight spaces
If your kitchen caddy, outdoor food bin or new paper/card wheelie hasn’t arrived, report it to your local waste team. Until the food caddy arrives, keep using the general rubbish bin for food scraps.
Flats and communal stores may roll out on a different timeline. You should still get a kitchen caddy; outdoor arrangements are agreed with landlords. Contact waste services if nothing has changed where you live.
Homes with no space for an extra full-size wheelie should be offered alternatives (smaller bins or sacks). Raise an adaptations request if storage is genuinely impossible.
Bags, smells and practical tips
- Liners: use compostable food-caddy liners once the free pack runs out.
- Lock the outdoor lid between collections to cut smells and wildlife.
- Rinse the kitchen caddy regularly; bicarb helps between washes.
- Freeze smelly scraps (fish, meat bones) and tip them out on collection morning.
- Reduce waste first: plan meals and freeze leftovers so less ends up in the caddy.
Frequently asked questions
When did Suffolk’s food waste collections start?+
Weekly food waste collections started across Suffolk on 1 June 2026 as part of Better Recycling / Simpler Recycling. Most homes received a 5 litre kitchen caddy and a lockable 23 litre outdoor food bin.
Where do I put my outdoor food caddy on collection day?+
Present it at your usual bin collection point on your food waste day (often the same weekday as your other collections). Food waste is emptied weekly by dedicated crews. Keep the lid locked between collections.
Can I use liners or bags in the food caddy?+
Yes — councils supplied an initial set of compostable liners with many deliveries. When those run out, buy compostable food-waste liners, or empty the kitchen caddy into the outdoor bin and rinse it. Ordinary plastic bags are not suitable.
I haven’t received my food waste bins — what should I do?+
Contact your district or borough waste team and report a missed delivery. Until they arrive, keep putting food waste in your general rubbish bin (or home compost what you safely can).
Won’t my black bin smell more if it is collected less often?+
Food scraps were the main smell trigger. With weekly food collections, that waste leaves the home more often. Empty packaging should go in recycling; keep the food caddy locked outside.
Can I put food waste in my brown garden waste bin instead?+
No. Garden waste uses a different composting process that cannot take cooked food, meat or dairy. Kitchen food waste belongs in the food caddy only.
I already compost at home — do I still need the caddy?+
Home composting is still great for many peelings. The weekly service is useful for meat, bones, dairy and cooked leftovers that are awkward to compost at home — use both if you want.
What happens to the food waste after collection?+
It goes to an anaerobic digestion plant that produces biogas and bio-fertiliser for farmland, rather than sending food scrapings for incineration with general rubbish.
Official council links
Related on Suffolk Daily
Always follow the latest rules from your district or borough council. This page summarises the county-wide food waste launch after 1 June 2026.