Fears have been raised over Newham Council plans to introduce a new borough-wide food recycling scheme, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter

Rachel Tripp (inset left) is warning foxes will tip over food waste caddies (inset right) (credit TJ Holowaychuk via Unsplash)

“Devious foxes” could create a stink in Newham when new food waste bins are introduced, a Labour councillor has warned.

Food waste collections are set to start from late November before being rolled out across the whole borough next year.

But Labour councillor Rachel Tripp warned of mess caused by foxes tipping the bins over in neighbouring Waltham Forest.

Cllr Tripp said: “I know there’s been quite a lot of experience in Waltham Forest about food waste bins being opened by increasingly devious foxes.”

She said she wanted to ask about “the potential for new food waste to create mess and particularly odor, and contribute to the poor condition of our streets”.

Green Party councillor Nate Higgins also warned that without bin housing, communal food waste bins could be stolen or used for fly-tipping.

He said the council’s former chief exective Abi Gbago had previously written to the government asking for more funding to provide this.

Labour councillor Terence Paul went further and said all of the council’s residential bin stores need to be redesigned.

He pointed to a tower block in Jansen Road in West Ham and maisonettes in Mona Street in Canning Town, where he said there is “rubbish all over the street every week”.

Cllr Paul said: “I want this project to succeed. In order for it to succeed the council has to wash its own face. We have to show the residents we can collect the rubbish.

“It’s going to fail because there’ll be rubbish and food waste over the streets of Newham.”

The three councillors raised their concerns at an environment scrutiny commission meeting last Wednesday (24th).

The government has told all councils to introduce food waste collections by 31st March 2026.

But the report said the £2.06million in funding the government has given the council can only pay for new caddies, communal wheeled bins and vehicles.

Amy Harris, the council’s director for public realm, said that the food waste bins could be made lockable to prevent foxes getting in.

However, she added: “But I have heard from residents in Waltham Forest that foxes have become even cleverer” and “are now knocking over the containers and enabling them to get inside”.

She suggested that people could place their caddy on top of their wheely bins on collection days so that they are too high for foxes to reach.

Harris also said the government funding “doesn’t allow for bin housing” for the communal bins. But she said the council is looking into whether it can fund this using money from its housing revenue account.

She added that the council could introduce a communal food waste bin “with a flap on the top” that can only fit food waste, to prevent fly-tipping.

However, she said that redesigning all communal bin stores across the borough “would be quite expensive”.

Food waste collections will start for a sample of 12,500 households in parts of the E7, E15, E6 and E20 postcodes from 24th November. The council has already bought one food waste collection truck.

But kerbside collections won’t start for the rest of the borough until September 2026, and for communal properties and flats above shops until February 2027.

The report said this is because the government hasn’t confirmed whether it will provide ongoing funding for the scheme. It also said that, with all councils having to begin collecting food waste, there is a high demand for new vehicles.

Labour councillor John Whitworth, the cabinet member responsible for environment, said this meant “we’ve only now been able to commit to purchasing food waste vehicles and they require about a year to be delivered”.

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