In a meeting on 6 October 2025, Sean McDermid, Interim Corporate Director of Environment and Sustainable Transport, in consultation with Councillor John Whitworth, Cabinet Member for Air Quality, Climate Emergency & Environment, approved awarding contracts for the supply of food waste caddies and liners to IPL Plastics UK Ltd and Cromwell Polythene Limited. This decision was made to comply with the Environment Act 2021, which requires local authorities to provide separate weekly food waste collections to all residential households by 31 March 2026. Funding for this initiative is being provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Carbon Offset Fund.

Food Waste Collection Contracts Approved

The council has agreed to award contracts for the supply of food waste caddies and liners to meet the requirements of the Environment Act 2021.

The following contracts were awarded:

• IPL Plastics UK Ltd: £158,457.20 for 5-litre internal food waste caddies for all residential households.
• IPL Plastics UK Ltd: £284,681.10 for 23-litre external food waste caddies for all residential households.
• Cromwell Polythene Limited: £6,212.75 for 26/52 roll of caddy liners for the first phase of the food waste service.

The procurement was conducted via Lots 1 and 2 of the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) Refuse and Recycling Framework- 1185.

The report notes that DEFRA has allocated £2.07 million to the council to support the introduction of separate weekly food waste collections. The report also notes that there is an underspend of £165,000 on the food waste caddies, and that DEFRA have requested that if the capital funding is not exhausted delivering the project, it should be used for delivering waste collection improvements. The council is considering using this underspend for an additional vehicle for communal food waste rounds, or to procure caddy liners for all residents and provide bin housing units to some communal waste collection properties. A decision on this will be made in a future cabinet paper scheduled for December 2025.

Policy and Priorities

The introduction of a separate weekly food waste collection service aligns with the council's environmental and sustainability priorities. The council aims to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste sent to energy from waste treatment by diverting it to recycling via anaerobic digestion¹. This will contribute to national and local commitments to increase recycling rates, cut carbon emissions, and promote responsible resource use.

Newham Council has declared a climate emergency, and its Just Transition plan² highlights the need to reduce and recycle as much food waste as possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The council's Corporate Plan, Building a Fairer Newham, emphasises increasing the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling, or composting. The boroughwide food waste collection service will support an increase in the recycling rate and reduction in the total amount of waste.

The council's Recycling and Waste Strategy³ prioritises:

• Contributing to the Mayor of London's target of recycling 50% of household waste across London Boroughs by 2030.
• Collaborating with East London local authorities to achieve a minimum joint reuse, recycling, and composting performance of 35% by 2030.
• Preparing for the evolving requirements outlined in the Environment Act 2021, which includes the introduction of a food waste service.

Alternative Options

The alternative option of not procuring food waste caddies or liners was rejected because it would be a breach of the Environment Act 2021. The Office of Environmental Protection (OEP) has the power to investigate complaints of public authorities failing to comply with environmental law.

The report states that:

The Office of Environmental Protection (OEP) has the powers under section 33 of the Environment Act 2021 to investigate any complaint received that a public authority has failed to comply with environmental law. Information Notices can be served setting out why the OEP considers the alleged failure if occurred, is serious and to provide further information. If following a response, the OEP consider on the balance of probabilities that the authority has failed to comply with environmental law, and considers that the failure is serious, under Section 36 Decision Notices may be served, including steps for remedy, mitigation and/or prevention. This would also cause reputational damage to Newham.

Consultation

Councillor John Whitworth was consulted on the proposals and supports the approach. Input was also sought from internal teams, including Waste Services, Finance, and Procurement.