Check when your area gets its food waste caddies: deliveries run in phases until 14 September, and weekly collections begin in the week of 5 October.

Food waste caddies are landing on doorsteps across Solihull borough right now, and the council has published a date for every area. Deliveries started on Monday 3 August and run in phases until Monday 14 September, working roughly from the north of the borough to the rural south and east. Weekly food waste collections then begin in the week of 5 October 2026. (Solihull Council announcement, 28 July 2026)

More than 78,000 households are getting the new service, and the council expects the delivery round to take over six weeks. You do not need to be at home when yours arrives.

When your area gets its caddies

The council’s delivery schedule lists a completion date for each area. If your date has passed and nothing has arrived, you can report a missed delivery through the council’s online form on the same page.

Delivered by Areas
Monday 17 August Castle Bromwich, Kingshurst
Monday 24 August Bentley Heath, Copt Heath, Dorridge, Knowle, Smith’s Wood, Chelmsley Wood, Fordbridge, Marston Green
Monday 1 September Dickens Heath, Elmdon, Haslucks Green, Kineton Green, Olton, Solihull Lodge, Tidbury Green
Monday 7 September Balsall Common, Cheswick Green, Hampton-in-Arden, Hillfield, Hockley Heath, Illshaw Heath, Meriden, Millison’s Wood, Monkspath, Shirley
Monday 14 September Berkswell, Bickenhill, Bradnock’s Marsh, Catherine-de-Barnes, Chadwick End, Darley Green, Eastcote, Meer End, Temple Balsall, Wootton Green
Timeline of Solihull's food waste rollout: deliveries begin 3 August, Castle Bromwich and Kingshurst complete by 17 August, Knowle, Dorridge and Chelmsley Wood areas by 24 August, Olton and Elmdon areas by 1 September, Shirley and Balsall Common areas by 7 September, rural villages by 14 September, and weekly collections start in the week of 5 October 2026
The rollout at a glance. Source: Solihull Council caddy delivery schedule, August 2026. Graphic by The Solihull Post.

What arrives, and what to do with it

Each eligible household receives a 7 litre kitchen caddy, a 23 litre lockable outdoor caddy, a guide to the new weekly food waste service and a leaflet explaining changes to fortnightly rubbish collections. The service covers houses, and flats that have their own bins or sacks; flats without individual bins will join the service in 2027. (Solihull Council)

The council asks residents to do three things: bring the caddies inside and store them safely until collections start in the week of 5 October, mark your house number on the outdoor caddy, and check solihull.gov.uk/collection-changes for the details of how the new service will work. Information events are also running across the borough over the summer.

Why this is happening

Weekly food waste collections are not a local experiment. Every council in England is required to introduce them under the government’s Simpler Recycling reforms. Cllr Ken Hawkins, Solihull’s cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said that while the change is a national requirement, “it is a fantastic opportunity for us all to waste less and recycle more”. (Solihull Council)

What it means for you

Nothing changes until October: keep using your current bins as normal. The practical jobs for now are small ones. Store the caddies where you can find them, write your house number on the outdoor one, and note your delivery date from the table above so you know whether to chase a missing caddy. When collections begin in the week of 5 October, cooked and uncooked food waste will go out weekly in the lockable outdoor caddy rather than in your rubbish bin, and the leaflet that comes with your delivery explains what happens to rubbish collections at the same time. If you live in a flat without your own bins, nothing arrives this year; your building joins in 2027.

The caddy rollout is one of two big pieces of council news this summer: the other is the updated green belt assessment that will shape where the borough’s next Local Plan allows building.