Food Waste
Did you know that food waste can cause as much damage to the environment as single use plastic?
Food that is thrown away can end up in landfill, where it breaks down and releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.
Our homes produce the majority of food waste, more than restaurants, hotels and supermarkets. On average just under three quarters of all food waste is still edible. In Norfolk, food waste makes up around a third of the waste in our bins.
The average family could save over £700 a year, by being food savvy! Click here for tips about how to reduce your food waste at home.
+ Food Waste Collections
Households have their food waste collected separately each week in the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, Norwich City Council area and some parts of Broadland District Council areas.
Residents in these places are provided with two food waste caddies; a small caddy is for use inside your home and a larger caddy is used when you put your food waste out for collection.
For those that do not have a food waste collection service, you could always help reduce the amount of waste that end up in landfill by producing your own compost. Find out how to compost at home here.
+ What can I put in my Food Waste Bin
Items to put in your food caddy
- Leftovers from your meals
- Eggs – including shells
- All dairy products e.g. cheese
- Vegetables and fruit – raw and cooked
- Bread, cakes and other baked goods
- Meat – raw and cooked, including fat and bones
- Fish – raw and cooked, including bones and shells
- Rice, pasta and beans
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Cooking oil, lard and other fats (solidified only – no liquids)
- Out of date food
- Pet food – wet and dry
Items not to put in your food caddy
- Packaging of any sort e.g. cardboard, plastic film
- Non-food products
- Garden waste
- Straw or other animal bedding/waste
Other recycling
Keeping your food caddies clean
- To keep your caddy clean, you could line it with either newspaper, a compostable caddy liner or plastic bag.
- You can purchase caddy liners from a number of retailers, including supermarkets, but if you do not want to purchase liners, newspaper works just as well.
- Many people line their caddy all year, but it is particularly advisable to do so in the winter to help stop loose food being frozen to the bin.
For more information, please visit your council’s website by clicking its logo below:
+ What happens to your food waste
Food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion plant run by a company called Biogen in Hertfordshire to be recycled. To put it simply, the food waste is put into giant sealed, oxygen-free tanks where it is gradually broken down to produce bio-gas and bio-fertilizer.
One banana peel produces enough electricity to charge a smartphone – twice!
The bio-gas produced is fed back into the national grid to power our homes and buildings. The bio-fertilizer is used on agricultural farm land to enrich the soil.
Due to new technology at Biogen, they can now accept plastic bags if they are used to line kitchen caddies. Machinery separates the bags and liners from the food waste. Those bags and liners are then sent to the energy from waste plant to be turned into electricity.
Residents are encouraged to reuse existing plastic bags to line their kitchen caddy, such as bread bags which would otherwise be thrown away, or can continue to use compostable bags.
