The Essex County Council (ECC) Behaviour Change Savings Programme is funding a countywide campaign to increase household food recycling. The campaign is based on WRAP best practice, previous ECC-funded projects and findings from a recent Essex-wide waste composition analysis. This analysis found that more than 30% of material in general rubbish bins in Essex is food waste (with Uttlesford being as high as 37%).

Approximately 400,000 households across nine participating districts will receive:

  • A ‘Keep this bin fresh’ sticker for their general waste bin
  • A ‘Power Up’ food recycling information leaflet
  • A free, one-off roll of 52 compostable food caddy liners

The physical materials will be supported by a countywide communications campaign delivered through Love Essex and participating Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs). D2D Distribution Ltd will deliver the three physical items to participating households: the leaflet, liners and bin sticker.

Participating councils:
The campaign will run in areas that have:

  • Wheeled general waste bins
  • Weekly food recycling collections
  • General waste collections at least fortnightly

The nine participating councils are:

  • Braintree
  • Chelmsford
  • ColchesterEpping Forest
  • Harlow
  • Maldon
  • Rochford
  • Tendring
  • Uttlesford

Timeline:
August 2026
Pre-campaign communications begin. You may have seen some Facebook posts go out already, and the website also has a dedicated section: Brown food recycling caddy - Uttlesford District Council

September–November 2026
Campaign materials delivered to households, alongside supporting communications activity.
Uttlesford deliveries will begin during the week commencing 14 September 2026.

November–December 2026
Non-participation letters may be sent to areas where low participation has been identified and where WCAs are able to support this. To be confirmed.

December 2026
Data collection, project review and completion of any remaining deliveries.

Measuring success:
ECC will assess the impact of the campaign by comparing food recycling tonnage from Waste Transfer Stations with:

  • Previous performance
  • Performance in non-participating authorities
  • Other indicators, such as an increase in requests for food recycling caddies

Useful information:
Find out more on here: https://www.loveessex.org/ideas/recycle/food-recycling

Caddy sticker: