These actions can deal with the food waste that you want to dispose of and also to reduce the amount of food waste that you generate in the first place.

Why is food waste a problem?

Food waste is a problem when it is sent to landfill. This is because it breaks down anaerobically (without oxygen) and produces methane, which is a harmful greenhouse gas.  That contributes to climate change.

For a summary of the various options that are available to you, take a look at our flow chart (pdf, 118kb) (opens in a new window) .

For a guide on up-to-date prices and contacts, see the prices leaflet (pdf, 106kb) (opens in a new window) .

We have produced a booklet Food and garden waste solutions (pdf, 1Mb) (opens in a new window) which encompasses all this information. To request a hard copy, contact the waste reduction team.

Reducing food waste

Love Food Hate Waste is a national initiative, which gives tips and and ideas for people to help produce less food waste and save money.

Products that extend the life of perishables

Products are available that can be placed next to fruit and vegetables and can extend their life up to four times. They do this by absorbing the ethylene gas that is released from ripening fruit/vegetables, which slows the ripening process down. The products work best next to a fruit bowl or in the salad drawer in the fridge.

Wormeries

Worm composting is the process of using worms to break down kitchen or garden waste to create faster than normal composting.

Food digesters

Food digesters take all household food waste, including vegetable scraps, raw and cooked meat or fish , bones, dairy products and other organic kitchen waste e.g. tea bags, bread etc

Compost bins

Compost bins come in all shapes and sizes. They can be bought or handmade and can even just be in the form of a heap.

Hot composter

A hot composter accepts garden waste and food waste, and produces compost. It differs from normal compost bins because it can take all cooked and uncooked food waste. This is because it has a unique ventilation system which enables the contents to reach significantly higher temperatures than normal compost bins. This means that harmful bacteria in cooked food is killed and the process of breaking down waste is faster.