Stone households will begin seeing their new food waste caddies collected from tomorrow, as the new weekly service starts to roll out alongside regular bin collections.
After caddies were delivered to homes across the area in recent days, many residents have already started using them in their kitchens, ready for the first collections from Monday 13 April 2026.
The new service is part of the Government’s Simpler Recycling initiative, with Staffordshire County Council working alongside district and borough councils to support weekly kerbside food waste collections across the county.
Residents do not need to sign up for the scheme.
Everything needed to get started, including a small kitchen caddy, a larger outdoor caddy and a starter roll of liners, has been delivered directly to households ahead of the launch.
Already on kitchen counters, soon on the kerbside
For many households in Stone, the change has already started indoors.
The smaller caddy is designed for day to day food scraps in the kitchen, with the contents then emptied into the larger outdoor caddy ready for collection. From tomorrow, those outside caddies will start being collected on residents’ usual bin days, alongside the rest of their regular household collections.
That means there is no separate sign up, and no need to remember an extra collection round beyond the normal routine.
What can go in the food waste caddies
Residents can use the new caddies for a wide range of food waste, including:
- Fruit and vegetable peelings
- Leftovers and plate scrapings
- Rice, beans and pasta
- Meat and fish, including bones
- Eggs and dairy products
- Bread, cakes and biscuits
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Mouldy or out of date food, once removed from packaging
Packaging, liquids, oils, fats and garden waste should not be put in the caddies.
Why the councils say it matters
The new collections are aimed at cutting the amount of food waste currently ending up in general rubbish bins.
According to the campaign, 48 per cent of the average Staffordshire general waste bin is made up of food. Under the new system, that waste can instead be processed separately into renewable energy, with material from the process also used as fertiliser for farms and parks.
Andrew Mynors, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for connectivity, said:
“It is staggering to think that nearly half of what ends up in our general rubbish bins isn’t actually rubbish at all. It’s food. That is a massive wasted resource.
“This new weekly food waste service that we are supporting is about turning Staffordshire’s waste into something useful. By simply separating our food scraps into the new caddies, residents will be helping to generate renewable energy to power our communities and create fertiliser for Staffordshire farmers.
“This isn’t just about being more efficient, but about being smarter with our budget too. Reducing food waste in our general bins could save Staffordshire taxpayers up to £1 million a year in disposal costs. That is money that can be better spent on essential services.”
The wider campaign is also intended to make people think about food waste at home.
Research highlighted by the council suggests the average family of four throws away around £1,000 worth of food each year.
So while the caddies are about better recycling, they are also a prompt to waste less in the first place.
What happens next
From tomorrow, the new food waste collections will begin for households in Stone on their usual collection days.
So if you have already started filling the smaller caddy in the kitchen, the next step is simply making sure the outdoor caddy is ready to go out with your bins when your collection day comes round.
We have embedded Staffordshire County Council’s video below, in which Andrew Mynors explains more about the new initiative.
