Councils that started food waste collections in Leicestershire and Rutland have collected a total of 869 tonnes of food waste in roughly one month.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Blaby District Council, Oadby and Wigston Borough Council and Rutland County Council (RCC) started collections in either March or April.
The government set a deadline of 31 March for all homes in England to get weekly food waste collections, but many local authorities missed this, including Leicester City Council who expect to start their services after May 2028.
Councillor Oliver Hemsley, RCC's cabinet member for environment and transport, said he was "quite surprised" by how much food waste was collected.
"Anytime you change things for people, we tend to be quite conservative about stuff, but it's actually really good to see that it's being embraced by the Rutland residents," Hemsley said.
He added that the food waste collections also worked better with modern habits.
"We've known lots of things over time. We used to compost our potato peelings and things, but it's become less easy for people to do that.
"Offering this service, rather than just chucking it in the black bin, has allowed us to meet the needs of our community and do something for the future generations."
Food waste sent to landfill, along with general waste, "doesn't just harmlessly break down" according to guidance issued by a number of local authorities.
"It has a big impact on the environment as it rots and releases methane - a harmful greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide."
Instead, food waste collected by these collections is turned into energy.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Blaby District Council, Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, and Rutland County Council all send their waste to anaerobic digestion plants.
"It's a process where they feed it in, and it generates a gas which is used to generate energy," Hemsley said.
"It is probably going to generate savings [for Rutland County Council] of around £253,000 in the first year.
"So it's well worth having and helps offset the costs of having it put in in the first place."
According to the latest data provided to the BBC:
- Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council collected 262 tonnes between 1 April and 24 April
- Blaby District Council collected 256.86 tonnes between 30 March and 28 April
- Oadby and Wigston Borough Council collected 173 tonnes in total as of 30 April
- Rutland County Council collected 176.88 tonnes in total as of 27 April
Charnwood Borough Council, Harborough District Council, and North West Leicestershire District Council are expected to start collections later this year.
Melton Borough Council said it would start in April 2028, while Leicester City Council said it would start "after" May 2028.