Why is the Council collecting food waste?
Food waste decays easily into its natural components much like garden waste. These materials can be combined to produce useful compost. Some householders already collect food waste to compost at home in composting units. For those without a garden this is not possible. We now aim to collect food waste with garden waste in brown bins. This is an additional service to those that already compost at home.
For information on food waste prevention go to the Love Food Hate Waste Link.
What are kitchen caddies?
Kitchen caddies are small containers that you can put on the table top, work surface or under the sink and can be used to collect small quantities of compostable waste such as food waste, vegetable and fruit peelings.
What can I put in the food waste kitchen caddy?
All food waste can be put in the caddy, except liquids. You can put, for example, cooked and uncooked food waste including meat, vegetable and fruit peelings, egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds in the caddy.
How many compostable liners will I get?
Householders will receive an annual supply of compostable liners.
Can I use normal plastic bags as liners?
You CANNOT use normal plastic or carrier bags as liners; they are not compostable and will not decompose at our composting facility. They cannot be processed into compost and will be treated as contamination if found in brown lidded bins. Your brown bin will not be emptied if plastic bags are found within.
Won't the caddy smell with food in it?
We recommend that you empty your caddy up to twice per week to prevent smells. The waste should be placed in your brown bin, then your caddy can be washed by hand or cleaned in the dishwasher if necessary.
Can I put food waste straight into the brown lidded bin?
Yes, but we don’t encourage this practice. If this is the approach taken good housekeeping practices should be followed. Please note that we do not accept plastic in the brown bin, and we do not offer a bin cleaning service. Wrapped food waste should be put in compostable liners or wrapped in newspaper.
