Green bin - food and garden waste
Green wheelie bins are for garden waste and food waste.
If you subscribe to the garden waste service, your green bin will be emptied every two weeks on the same day as your blue bin.
From 1 April 2024, garden waste collection is a paid-for service.
If you require a small grey kitchen caddy for collecting your food waste these are available (one per household) from the Town Hall reception.
Yes please:
- grass cuttings
- prunings
- windfalls
- flowers
- plants
- weeds
- cooked and raw food and kitchen waste including:
- fruit, salad, vegetable waste
- egg shells
- stale bread, cakes, pastries
- rice, pasta, lentils
- red meat, poultry, fish (including bones)
- plate scrapings
- tea bags, coffee grounds
No thanks:
-
cardboard
- plastic bags (only corn starch compostable liners can be used for food waste)
- soil and stones
- dog or cat waste
- pet bedding and shavings etc
- wallpaper
- timber or plywood
Please don't overfill your green bin - even a half filled bin can quickly become very heavy making it difficult to move and causing problems when the bins are emptied.
Too much waste for your green bin?
If you have too much garden waste for your green wheelie bin you can take it to the Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Good to know:
- when your bin will be emptied
- how to put your bin out
- what can be recycled and where
- report a problem or request a new bin
- shared bins at flats, bedsits and older people's accommodation
Yes, if you wish corn starch compostable liners can be used in your caddy to help keep your food waste contained and make transferring to your green bin simple.
Your food waste can be placed in your green bin in the corn starch liners.
Liners are available from leading supermarkets and must be manufactured to EN13432 standard and have the Compostable Seed Logo which makes sure that they breakdown in the composting process.
No, you must not put any kind of plastic bags in your green wheelie bin, even if they say they are biodegradable/compostable, as they won’t rot down in the process and would spoil the compost.
Only corn starch liners for food waste displaying the EN13432 standard and Compostable Seed Logo are allowed.
No, cooking oil and fats should not be put in your green bin.
You can take waste oil to the Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Your green bin may smell especially in periods of hot weather, so you might want to wash it out after it has been emptied.
Maggots can develop in your green bin if food waste is left exposed, allowing flies to lay their eggs. Putting food waste into the caddy or green bin as soon as possible and closing the lid will reduce the chance of this.
If your green bin collection is not due for over a week, and your black bin is due to be emptied next, you could put your food waste into the black bin, especially during hot weather.
Your caddy should not smell if you empty it regularly and give it a rinse before using it again.
If you can, add a layer of garden waste to your green bin before putting in any food waste, this will help avoid food sticking to the bottom of your bin.
Corn starch compostable liners can now be used in your caddy to help keep your food waste contained and make transferring to your green bin simple. These are available from leading supermarkets and must be manufactured to EN13432 standard and have the Compostable Seed Logo which makes sure that they breakdown in the composting process.
You can wash your caddy and green bin regularly to keep them clean.
If you use cleaning products please give the caddy or bin a final rinse out with clean water and allow to dry before using again for garden and food waste.
When your food and garden waste is collected, it is taken to a composting facility which can compost all types of food and garden waste in an enclosed facility. The material is shredded and put into special tunnels where air circulation, temperature and moisture is controlled to break down the food and garden waste into compost product and soil conditioner.
No, the caddy is for you to use in your kitchen and then empty the contents into the green bin for collection.
Sorry, no, we don't provide food waste recycling at properties with shared bins.
No, you can choose whether to put food waste in your green bin or your black bin.
We prefer you to use the green bin as your food waste will then be turned into compost, but, especially during hot weather, you may prefer to put food waste into whichever bin (green or black) will be emptied next.
Yes, replacement caddies are available for collection from the Town Hall Reception.
You could also use a large empty ice cream tub or similar, or put your food waste straight into your green bin.