New 123+ Waste Collection Service for Stratford District

This article is 2 years old

Press Release

Published on 16 March 2022
Archived on 16 April 2022


As part of the preparations for the introduction of the new 123+ waste collection service that starts in August 2022 across South Warwickshire, residents in Stratford-on-Avon District will soon be receiving new food caddies as part of the new weekly food waste collection service.

Food caddies will be distributed to residents across the District from April together with an information booklet explaining how the new waste collection service works and what you need to do.

Residents will be provided with a small 7 litre caddy and a larger 23 litre external food waste bin. The small caddy is designed to be kept in the kitchen for collecting food waste, which can then be transferred into the external food waste bin for collection.

The approximate dimensions of the food caddy and food waste bin are as follows:

  • 7 litre food caddy - 235mm (height) x 250mm (width) x 225mm (depth)
  • 23 litre food waste bin - 390mm (height) x 290mm (width) x 340mm (depth)


The external food bin is designed to be stored outside and has a lockable lid to contain any smells and prevent vermin getting in. The food waste will be collected every week which will also help to prevent smells.

This will be a change from the current collection service where food waste can be put in the garden waste bin as part of the subscription service.  The new service will see the food waste taken to a different facility for recycling from 1st August 2022.

Cllr Ian Shenton, Climate Change Portfolio says: "The new food waste recycling service will make it easy for people to recycle their food waste every week. This will help remove any smelly waste from refuse bins and leaving more space for other rubbish.

"It will also help people realise how much food they waste each week and hopefully act as a prompt to reduce avoidable food waste, such as making the most of leftovers, planning meals and creating shopping lists and storing food correctly."

UK households waste 6.5 million tonnes of food every year, 4.5 million of which is edible. The average family of four can save over £60 per month by reducing their food waste. For hints and tips on how to make the most of leftovers, plan your shopping and meals and make your food last longer, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Cllr Shenton, continued: "From August, we will no longer be collecting food and garden waste together - each will be collected separately.  It is much cheaper to compost garden waste if it is separated from cooked and raw food waste. Food waste has to be treated at much higher temperatures to kill any pathogens that could spread infections on farms.

"I know this is a change from the current service, but I am sure that residents will adapt to this variation of the new service, whilst still maintaining a weekly food waste collection service.

"Recycling as much as possible will help reduce waste, protect the environment and help us tackle climate change. We can put your waste materials to good use, and we have a legal requirement to recycle as much household waste as we reasonably can. It costs money to collect and dispose of the waste in your grey bin. Recycling all that you can helps to keep Council Tax down."

For more information about the new 123+ waste collection service please visit: 123+ Waste Collections | Stratford-on-Avon District Council


Subscriptions for the garden waste collection service 2022/23 (1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023) are now open. The annual charge is £42 per bin. 

Last year when the subscription service was introduced, almost 79% of households across Stratford-on-Avon District signed up, with over 49,000 garden waste permits purchased.

Cllr Ian Shenton, Climate Change Portfolio says: "We had a tremendous response to the garden waste subscription service that we introduced last year.  Although it's a service we don't have to provide and is not part of the Council Tax, we know this service is valued by residents and I would like to thank all our residents that purchased permits. 

"Last year, we had to make the difficult choice to charge for the service or possibly discontinue it completely. We felt that it would be fairer for residents to have the choice to pay for a service, rather than not having a service at all. 

"The income generated from this service helps contribute towards the cost of providing this and other waste and cleansing services, reducing pressure elsewhere on the Council's finances."

You can pay for your subscription on the website: Garden Waste Service | Stratford-on-Avon District Council or call 01789 260628.

Residents can subscribe to the service at any time throughout the year, but the cost remains the same regardless of when you subscribe with no pro-rata rate.

What is the new 123+ service?
The new service includes:

  1. A new food waste collection every week, using a small kitchen caddy and larger external food waste bin.
  2. A new recycling collection, every two weeks using your existing wheeled bin for paper, card, food and drink cans, glass bottles and jars, aerosols, food and drink cartons, plastic bottles, plastic pots, tubs and trays.
  3. Your refuse bin collection is changing from every 2 weeks to every 3 weeks.
    + Garden waste collection service every 2 weeks.

The full 123+ service starts on 1st August 2022.

Why are we introducing a 123+ service?
The end of the separate waste contracts for Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwick District Council in 2022 provides an ideal opportunity to work together. We are introducing a new joint waste and recycling collections approach to deliver the 123+ collections service. This will help us deliver a more efficient collection service that minimises environmental impact and benefits from economies of scale by sharing resources

The new 123+ collection service will:

  • Reduce waste and increase recycling this will improve the environment and help tackle climate change.
  • Make the services more effective and efficient through joint working, minimising mileage travelled on collection rounds and reducing environmental pollution.
  • Help keep service delivery costs as low as possible.

For further information please take a look at the FAQs on the website: 123+ Frequently asked Questions v1 (stratford.gov.uk)

Both Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick District Councils are committed to improving their services for the residents of South Warwickshire and are investigating joint working and shared services.

Starting in August 2022, the new contract across both Council districts will focus on achieving both environmental and financial benefits; using a 123+ service  (weekly food waste collections, fortnightly recyclable waste collections and three weekly non-recyclable waste collections) encouraging residents to increase their household recycling, reduce non-recyclable waste and reduce the cost of treating and disposing of rubbish. In addition, it will support the ambition of both Councils to achieve carbon-neutral status for their districts by 2030.

The new joint refuse and recycling services contract has been awarded to Biffa Waste Services Ltd. 


Contact details

Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Elizabeth House, Church Street,
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire,
CV37 6HX
Tel: 01789 267575

Back to Archived Press Releases

Contact: The Communications team

Last updated on 16/03/2022