Weekly food waste collection, set to be rolled out across the borough from October 2025, will cost Havering Council around £3.8 million to implement – and between £2.5 million and £3 million a year to maintain.
The initial cost will go towards buying new lorries and equipment such as kitchen and outdoor caddies for each property in Havering.
Funding from central government will cover half of this cost – £1.9 million – but Havering Council is lobbying for more money given its “stretched” resources.
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At a budget briefing, council leader Ray Morgon said he will be “sending a letter to the appropriate minister asking for some additional funding” to cover the cost of food waste collection.
Cllr Morgon said: “We’ve worked on the basis that we won’t get any additional money, so we are having to fund that within our own resources, which are quite clearly stretched at the moment.
The council has “not received any indication” from government as to how much funding it will be granted for the ongoing running costs of food waste collection, said Havering’s strategic director of resources Kathy Freeman.
“Obviously we are really supportive of rolling out the initiative because it should reduce waste overall,” Ms Freeman said at the budget briefing.
“But we just need to be adequately funded for this new service.”
All local authorities are now legally required to provide a separate food waste collection by March 2026.
Havering Council launched a consultation in October last year on how the service would work in practice, including proposals for kerbside properties to receive a five-litre kitchen caddy, and flats with a communal waste collection to get a 240-litre bin.
The new legislation comes as the council attempts to balance a budget deficit of around £70 million.
