Maggots and flies in my (full!) wheelie bin

[AhoyMcCoy]

My non-recyclable bin is collected fortnightly. It's due to be collected this Thursday- I missed the last fortnights collection so I have a months worth of rubbish in there. There are flies ALL around it, and maggots crawling up the side of the bin. I'm mortified! Iv been pouring a kettle of boiling hot water in it every morning- is there anything else I can do to get rid of it before the bin gets emptied on Thursday?! Don't drive, so can't think of a way to get rid of the rubbish sooner!

[littlemisswise]

I don't know if this would work now, but I sprinkle Bin buddy in my wheelie bin. I've been doing it in the Summer since we had maggots a couple of years ago. I, also, use the one you put in the kitchen bin. I buy mine in Wilko's.

[maja00]

Do you put food in that bin?

[mignonette]

You need to keep the bin lid firmly closed so they cannot get out or flies in. In future double bag all meat/dairy/fish waste and put bine liner in.
These fortnightly collections are disgusting for everybody in the hot summer months. And pity the poor refuse collectors.

It happens a lot so don't feel embarrassed. Flies get in when you open the lid and all you can do is deprive them of their food source by bagging tight. They won't stop hatching and growing until the food runs out I am afraid. But keep the lid closed until thursday and any newly hatched flies will be contained. Put new rubbish in bin bags nearby but don't open the bin.

Then disinfect with Jeyes fluid, fill the bin with water and sterilise as best you can after emptying. You can also spray any on the outside with fly spray.

[maja00]

I am shocked that there are fortnightly collections for food waste! That is revolting!

[mignonette]

We have that too. It is disgusting. I hate it. Two weks of food waste sitting by my back door and the stench as you walk down the road because little terraces have no choice but to put their bins in their front gardens. And the night before bin day, the smell in the road is bloody awful.

Damn council and their cost cutting.

[littlemisswise]

We have 2 weekly bin collections. Other than one occasion, we have never had maggots in the 4 years they have been doing it. Food waste is put in bin bags and put in the wheelie bin. We sprinkle some bin buddy in a couple of times a week.

DH does bleach our wheelie bin out periodically, too.

[littlemisswise]

*By 2 weekly I mean fortnightly, not twice a week.

[HarrietSchulenberg]

My bins are collected fortnightly and yes there have been a lot of flies around lately. But there were when there were weekly bin collections, it's just the hot weather that's causing them to breed in larger numbers.

My cooked food waste is wrapped in 2 layers of newspaper then put in the green bin. Peelings and non cooked stuff goes in my compost bin and is turning into a lovely treacly goo for my garden.

Don't leave bagged waste by the bin as flies will get into it anyway and the binmen might not take it. Mine don't take side rubbish apart from packaging at Christmas. They are quite used to dealing with fly-ridden bins and they just hook them onto the back of the truck and stand well clear.

Best thing to do is shut your windows for half an hour and leave the bin lid open to let the flies bugger off out. After the bin has been emptied hose it out if you can, or at least chuck a bucket or two of water and some bleach in there, swill it round and empty it into a drain. Not easy to do, I have to say.

You're not on your own, the warm weather is making this quite normal atm.

[AhoyMcCoy]

I'm glad to hear its a bit normal- I was terrified the bin men would be judging my filthy bins! DH is positive we got a leaflet through the door offering bin cleaning services for £2.40 a bin- I think il keep the bin closed until Thursday (although pour lots of kettles of boiling water Thursday morning before the bin men come to try and kill most of them!) and then I'll get a bin cleaner in Thursday afternoon and make sure I double bag more carefully in the summer from now on!

Will look into binbuddy too- thanks!

[maja00]

Where I am our food waste bins are collected weekly and even that has been bad enough in the hot weather.

[MrsFrederickWentworth]

Phew, not just me either.

Jeyes fluid is what I have been using, but will give Bon buddy a whirl.

[PigletJohn]

I can't see that pouring water over your rubbish will help. It will just make the bin heavier and wetter.

You could use insecticide, I suppose.

Otherwise double-bagging and tightly tied is the way to gio.

I hose out my bin in summer, and my neighbours' if they are too lazy frail to do it themselves.

You lie the bin down and squirt the hose to wash the goo into the the gutter and hose it into the drain, then stand it upside down to drain, then leave the lid open to dry out. Unless you put unwrapped food waste in the, it will not be bad. Don't try to clean a bin by leaning over it. Short ladies sometimes fall in.

I have been known to put bags of waste on a bonfire, once it has a good bed of embers, but you need a long garden as it may be smelly.

[Knotter]

We get this most years at least once - I pour some Dettol in the sides of the bin, which wipes out most of the maggots, then rinse the bin out with hot soapy water once bin men have been, emptying into the drain.

[CoolaSchmoola]

When we lived in Germany our general waste bin was collected monthly (included all meat and fish waste and anything cooked - the rest went in the fortnightly compost bin). Our summers were hotter than here too.

I used both Bin Buddy (brought over by my Mum) or a German version of the same. Bin Buddy is a scented insecticide.

All you need to do to prevent this happening in hot weather is to bag all rubbish and sprinkle Bin Buddy or something of that ilk over the top every time you chuck a bag in. I only got maggots /flies once, the first month we lived there before I found the bin sprinkles in my local supermarket.

[42day]

I've had this in the past too. The bin lids are too light so it was only 2weeks and three days before it all started and everything was double-bagged then in a big black sack and tied. We only missed the collection because our flight was delayed and our neighbours had ill-health at the time so we said don't worry we are back in time. I tried everything and worried the bin men would refuse the empty the bin so bagged up again and drove like crazy to the tip - made it before they could escape - the relief was enormous! Nothing works until the bins are emptied I tried everything before the crazy trip to the tip.

[HappyAsEyeAm]

Our food waste is collected weekly, but our 'big bin' (for waste other than food, plastics, glass, metal and paper) is colelected fortnightly. We use disposeable nappies, so this means that DS2's nappies sit in the big bin for up to two weeks at a time. I wrap, double wrap, triple wrap etc, but it doesn't sit well with me that they're there for up to two weeks in hot weather. I often take them to the nearest tip in between. I will look out for bin buddy in the supermarket.

[Molly200]

I get a lot of maggots in my wheeled brown bin I have got to know that salt kills them better than anything else I buy the cheap bags of salt in Tesco’s