Barnet Council’s food waste collections reach 100 tonnes weekly after Labour revival
The revived service, scrapped in 2018 to save £300,000 a year, has seen two million collections with minimal complaints
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Only one named source (councillor) and no direct document cited.
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No affected residents quoted or right of reply offered.
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Headline overstates impact with 'more than 100 tonnes' without context.
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Barnet Council’s food waste collection service now gathers more than 100 tonnes every week, six months after the Labour administration reintroduced it. The scheme, which covers all households in the borough, was cut in 2018 as part of a cost-saving programme by the previous Conservative administration.
The council said the 2018 decision would save £300,000 annually. At the time, the Mayor of London had advised local authorities to maintain food waste collections to reduce landfill use and meet recycling targets. Barnet was one of several councils that ignored the recommendation.
Fly-tipping in Barnet: £500 for a first offence, £350 if you pay quickly
A third offence goes straight to prosecution rather than another fine.
Two million collections, 17 complaints
Since the service restarted in March 2026, crews have completed two million collections. The council reported only 17 complaints about fox-related spillages during this period. Each household received a brown kitchen caddy for indoor use and a small brown outdoor bin for weekly collections.
Collection crews clear spillages they encounter during rounds. Residents can report incidents on public land to the council’s street cleansing response team, who will attend to them. The council did not specify the average response time for such reports.
Barnet bulky waste collection: £46.71 for up to three items
Charges are banded by how many items you have, not per item — and five bags of rubbish count as one.
““The Conservatives gave up on weekly food waste collection and lacked drive for the borough. We will always remain ambitious for Barnet, and want to improve the service residents get.””
Alan Schneiderman, Labour cabinet member for environment and climate change
What happens next
The council has not announced any changes to the service. Residents can continue using the brown bins for food waste, which is collected weekly. The council said it will monitor the service’s performance and may adjust collection routes or frequencies if needed.
Questions this report answers
+How much food waste is Barnet Council collecting now?
Barnet Council now collects over 100 tonnes of food waste weekly. The service restarted in March 2026 and has logged two million collections since April, with minimal complaints about spillages or pests.
+Why was the food waste service cut in 2018?
Barnet Council scrapped the food waste collection service in 2018 to save £300,000 a year. The decision went against advice from the Mayor of London, who had urged councils to retain such services to meet recycling targets.
+What should I do if I see a food waste spillage?
If you see a food waste spillage on public land, report it to Barnet Council’s street cleansing team. Collection crews clear spillages they spot during rounds, but residents can request additional clean-ups for reported incidents.
+Will the food waste collection service change in future?
Barnet Council has not announced any changes to the food waste collection service. It said it will monitor performance and may adjust routes or frequencies if needed, but no formal review has been scheduled.
Barnet Press News Desk
This article was written at the Barnet Press news desk from the reporting of the outlets listed below it. Drafting is done by a language model under human editorial supervision — there is no reporter behind this byline, and we would rather say so than invent one.
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