What to do with
FOOD WASTE
Where can I recycle? »
All Welsh councils offer separate food waste collections, in some hard to reach areas, food waste is collected along with garden waste.
How should I recycle food waste?
- If your local authority has given you a kitchen caddy to collect food waste, you can usually recycle any cooked or raw food scraps;
- Make sure you remove all packaging from your food waste, especially plastic.
The collected food waste can be treated in several ways. In some areas (where food and garden waste are mixed together) it is often commercially composted at a local facility. This compost is then used in agriculture, landscaping and horticulture. Where food waste is collected separately it is usually treated locally using a method called anaerobic digestion, which produces green electricity. Please watch the animation below for an overview of the process:
What else can I do with it?
Make compost at home...
You can add the following items of food waste to your home composting bin:
- Fruit and vegetable peelings, seeds and cores;
- Tea bags;
- Coffee grounds and filter papers;
- Paper towels or tissues (not if they have touched meat);
- Egg shells.
You cannot compost: cooked food, fish, meat or dairy products.
How do I combine my food waste collection and home composting?
To ensure that you recycle as much of your food waste as possible, both methods work effectively together.
- Meat, fish and dairy products together with any cooked food can be put into your food waste collection. These items must not be composted at home as they may attract unwanted visitors to your garden;
- All fruit and vegetable peelings can be composted at home.