A “lockable” kerbside food box (brown)
Kitchen caddy (brown)

Use the food waste collections to recycle all cooked and raw food waste, including:

• Meat and fish – including bones and carcasses that fit in your caddy
• Fruit and vegetables
• Cheese and eggs
• Bread, pasta and cereal
• Tea bags and coffee grounds – including coffee filter paper
• Pet food
• Paper kitchen towel and napkins

Items we do not take on the food waste service

• Plastic bags
• Food packaging: aluminium foil, cardboard or plastic
• Liquid food waste including cooking oil
• Garden waste

Do not put the kitchen caddy outside instead of the bigger food waste bin; caddies are not as tough or as easily seen by busy collection crews. For a free replacement kitchen caddy or lockable kerbside food waste container, order them via your district council.

Contact your local council customer services to report missed food waste collections.

Unless you have an assisted collection, recycling and food waste should be put out on the edge of your property by 7am on collection day (as collection times can vary) and no earlier than the night before. Please take care not to obstruct pavements or roads and take bins back in as soon as possible after collections.

Please do not include food packaging or plastic bags.

Please do not use the food waste service to dispose of garden or any other household wastes.

To keep your kitchen caddy and food bin clean, use newspaper to wrap food or line your caddy, or buy special compostable liners, with the ‘looped seedling’ logo. Do not use other types of bags. Even those marked “biodegradable” do not degrade fully or quickly enough.

Place food waste in your kitchen caddy and then transfer it to the larger kerbside bin for collection. The lid “locks” when the handle is pulled forward and can be opened by moving the handle backwards. Please lock the lid when putting it out for collection to deter pests and avoid spills.

Do not put the kitchen caddy outside instead of the bigger food waste bin; caddies are not as tough or as easily seen by busy collection crews. For a free replacement kitchen caddy or lockable kerbside food waste container, order them via your district council.

Wash your hands and surfaces after handling food, and store the kerbside bin in the shade if possible with the lid closed and locked.

To avoid problems from flies during hot weather, please follow our advice on storing food waste in hot weather:

• Flies cannot lay eggs on food unless they have access to it. Open food container lids, dirty containers, or food in the rubbish bin, all attract houseflies, whose lifecycle – egg-maggot-pupa-fly – speeds up in hot weather to only 7-10 days.
• Keep your caddy clean by lining it with newspaper or compostable liners available online or in many shops. Tie liners or fully wrap food in newspaper when adding to your external bin.
• Some residents put food waste in compostable liners into their freezers between collections, as this prevents smells, pests and vermin before the food is collected.
• You can use washing-up liquid to clean your caddy and bin, and white vinegar is an effective, environmentally-friendly disinfectant. Then wash your hands.

In Somerset, separated food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant near Bridgwater to make green energy and a compost material to use on local farms.

Thank you for using the kerbside collection service to recycle your food waste rather than sending it to landfill.

You can order replacement food waste recycling containers here.

If you choose to line your caddy with a compostable liner these can be purchased from most large grocery stores, such as Asda, Sainsbury or Tesco alternatively high street retailers such as Lakeland, The Range or Wilkinson.

Alternatively search for on-line suppliers such as:

Alina – https://www.alina.co.uk/bin-liners-sacks
Allgreen – http://www.all-green.co.uk/index.php
BinLinersDirect.com – https://www.binlinersdirect.com/consumer-products/caddy-liners
BioBags – http://www.biobags.co.uk/
Caddiesandliners.co.uk – https://www.caddiesandliners.co.uk
Caddy Liners Direct – http://www.caddylinersdirect.co.uk/shop/
Gardening Delights – https://www.gardeningdelights.com/recycling/biodegradable-compostable-bin-liners.html

Trade outlets for local retailers
All Green – http://www.all-green.co.uk/commercial.php
BinLinersDirect.com – https://www.binlinersdirect.com/trade-wholesale-and-bulk-bin-liners
BioBags – http://www.biobag-uk.com/products/retailers/
Caddy Liners Direct – http://www.caddylinersdirect.co.uk/shop/bulk-trade-supply-of-compostable-food-waste-caddy-bin-liner-bags
Straight – http://www.straight.co.uk/products/food-waste-recycling/

Please note – SWP does not endorse any particular brand or supplier, but you do need to ensure you buy 100% compostable corn-starch based liners. Look out for the compostable liner logo. (Certification, EN13432). Please note plastic bags or biodegradable/degradable bags are not acceptable.