Do you recycle food waste? If so, are you recycling everything you can?
See, Wales is currently the third best recycling nation in the world, which isn’t too shabby, and 95% of us regularly recycle, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to food waste.
In Wrexham, we estimate that under half of residents recycle their food waste and the rest is ending up in our rubbish bins.
What goes in your food caddy?
If you want a quick catch up on the things you should be putting in your caddy, then you’ve come to the right place.
As well as everything you will already know about, take a look at this list some of the foods you mightn’t necessarily think of, such as:
- Out of date foods
- Bones and carcasses
- Egg shells
- Banana peelings (and other peelings)
- Apple cores
- Coffee granules
- Raw foods
- Mouldy foods
- Plate scrapings
- Uneaten ready meals
- Fast food (e.g. chips and pizzas)
- Shellfish
Things that we don’t want you to try and recycle as food waste are liquids (such as oil or milk), packaging, plastic bags, nappies or garden waste.
That’s what can be recycled, so now let’s move on to why you should recycle your food waste 🙂
Make soil improver – and collect it for free!
Your food waste and garden waste in Wrexham is used to create soil improver, which is available for our residents to collect at the three recycling centres throughout the year.
So rather than putting food in your general waste, why not start recycling your leftovers and turn it into something useful? And then when you need to do a bit of gardening you can come and collect some free soil improver. Sounds like a good idea, huh?
It’s more hygienic!
WRAP Cymru’s research revealed the ‘yuck factor’ (or ‘ych-a-fi factor’ in Wales) is the biggest barrier, with people being put off by potential smells, leaks and spills.
However, what many people don’t realise is that recycling our food waste creates fewer smells and is more hygienic than putting it in the bin. The content of our food waste caddies is collected every week, whilst our non-recyclable waste is collected less frequently.
With this is mind, ask yourself again, ‘why aren’t I recycling my leftovers?’ Do you have an answer? Is it one of these?
- To save time perhaps? Wrong. Emptying leftovers into a food caddy takes the same amount of time as scraping them anywhere else.
- Caddy liners cost money. Nope, we’ve been providing free caddy liners for an ongoing period now. Anyone in need of a new roll can just tie an empty liner to their caddy handle on their next collection day and the recycling crew will leave you a new roll free of charge. Or if you prefer, you can collect some from one of the 40+ locations in Wrexham that stock them.
- My food caddy is broken. No problem, you can request a new one for free on our website.
See, there really isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t recycle food waste. Now you’re on board, here’s some handy tips you can follow…
Follow Wales Recycles’ 5 handy tips:
- Use a caddy liner – Lining your kitchen caddy will keep your food waste contained, helping to reduce smells and spills, and preventing it from getting mucky. Apply liners to a clean, dry caddy, and ensure you don’t overfill them to avoid splitting.
- Avoid liquid items – Keep liquids such as milk, juice, or cooking oil out of your caddy to prevent ‘bin juice’ from collecting at the bottom.
- Empty your food waste caddy regularly – Empty the contents of your kitchen caddy into your outdoor kerbside caddy regularly, before it gets too full, to prevent smells and odours. Remember to tie caddy liners tightly before moving them from your kitchen caddy. Should your caddy start to smell, then it’s time to empty its contents into your kerbside caddy and start afresh with a new liner.
- Keep a lid on it – It may seem obvious but closing the lid of your kitchen caddy will stop flies getting in, and odours getting out. Don’t forget to also close the lockable lid on your outdoor bin securely, to prevent pests and safeguard against windy weather.
- Keep your caddy clean – Clean your kitchen caddy every few weeks. Give it a rinse in the sink. For a more thorough clean, disinfect your caddy with leftover hot water from your kettle and some washing up liquid.
Help us do better, and find out more by visiting wrexham.gov.uk/recycling
