Our fleet of 13 new trucks is already out on your street collecting your food waste and we can now reveal the winning names!
Earlier this year, we asked Waltham Forest residents to name our new food waste recycling trucks, which are designed in five different styles: watermelon, banana, fish bones, carrot, and pizza. We received an astonishing 800-plus name suggestions from local people last summer and were delighted to announce ‘The Very Hungry Caddy-filler’ as the winning entry. It was chosen by public vote as number one with ’So-Fish-Ticated’ chosen as the runner-up.
The full list of truck names can now be revealed:
- The Very Hungry Caddy-filler (watermelon)
- Easy Peasy Lemon McWheely (banana)
- Melonator (watermelon)
- Olivia Codrigo (fish)
- Trashzilla (pizza)
- Rita the Margher-eater (pizza)
- Decompostow (carrot)
- Reescycle Witherspoon (watermelon)
- Damon Albanana (banana)
- You’ve lost that rubbish peeling (banana)
- Donut go bacon my heart (pizza)
- Elvis Parsley (carrot)
- So-fish-ticated (fish)
- Councillor Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality, said: “13 fantastic food waste trucks, named by you, are now working up and down the borough to collect food waste from your new caddies. You may have already caught a glimpse of them around the borough and on your road.
“Their colourful designs are hard to miss and come in a series of bright and brilliant foody designs, from pizza, watermelon, and banana, to carrots and fish. We’ve had some really positive feedback on our food waste trucks, especially from our younger residents! So, we’ve created some character cards and a bingo sheet, for you to print off and cut out, so you’ll be able to identify them, learn, and have some fun too.
"With the bingo sheet, you’ll be able to tick each new one you see as they visit your street as we continue to roll out our new collections service, around your neighbourhood.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has got involved with food waste collections so far. Separating our food waste can make a big contribution to tackling the climate emergency here in our borough as we look to secure net-zero for carbon emissions by 2030 and in just six weeks we have already collected over 500 tones separately collected food waste for recycling.
“We will continue to work in partnership with residents to secure a greener future for our borough.”
Adelaide Homer, aged 9, from Barclays Primary School, won the overall competition back in August. She said, "I thought that we might search through my books about food waste and I saw the 'Very Hungry Caterpillar'. And I thought since it's a food waste truck, what if we replace Caterpillar with Caddy-Filler? So, we got 'The Very Hungry Caddy-Filler'!"
Weekly food waste collections are now operating for kerbside properties across the borough and these households should have received their caddies by now. Collections take place weekly on your usual collection day. We are currently in the process of rolling out this service to flats and communal properties and are around halfway through this process.
- Download your copy of the bingo sheet and character cards.
- Full details of our food waste collections, including FAQs about the service and tips about what you can put in your caddy can be found online.
- If you have not yet received your caddy, email wasteteam@walthamforest.gov.uk with your address and we will arrange for one to be delivered.
