New food bins

Food waste (inc meat - cooked & uncooked, bones etc) have gone into the green bin (fortnightly collection) along with garden waste for years here.
This is composted, and the result (called soil improver) can be collected free (shovel your own) from a number of the sites, or purchased in bags from the smaller sites.

I use an indoor tub (large icecream size - 5 litre?), line it with a square of newspaper and then I empty it every couple of days - depending on the weather and where we are in the recycling cycle I wrap in a couple of pieces of broadsheet newspaper, or just straight into the green bin.

Due to the new rules we are getting indoor & outdoor food waste caddies (weekly collection). Collections start 1 June.

Green bin will remain for garden waste (fortnightly - free) and we can now apply for an extra garden waste bin (brown) at no additional cost (used to be around £60pa for the extra garden waste bin).
Excellent for me as I've also been using the one from the previously empty house next door but new neighbours have recently moved in.

Recycling (paper, card, metal, glass & hard plastic) all go into the blue bin (fortnightly).
Soft plastics are being added to this under the new regime.

We are also getting general waste wheelie bins, until now we have just had black sacks as the council official line was that wheelie bins encourage general waste rather than recycling.

East Cambs District Council.

Durham area

The concept of food caddies and council food waste collections is not new. Clearly lots of councils have been doing this, but many have not. The council that I am in has never done this, we got our bin in April and collections have just started. Our neighbouring council in a different county has been collecting food waste for many years.

What's new are the new regulations requiring all councils in England to do weekly (free) food waste collections.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4vwj0yj20o

Our council introduced these several years ago. It was withdrawn very soon after because no one did it. My guess is there will be another large batch of plastic caddies in landfill. Ridiculous.

@Doggymummar where did the food waste go before? A bin is a bin. If it went in normal waste bin why didn’t it attract flies then?

Well they are new in our county started a few weeks ago.

No I am not recycling food waste. I don’t want yet another bin to have to contend with.

Our council is not doing it because they have a new contract with a fancy new waste site apparently. Don't know how that works.
I don't want a food caddy anyway because we live in a park home and space is at a premium.
We don't have garden waste collections because they cost more and they get enough out of me. We take ours to the tip when we've built up enough.

Or gets hacked up, bagged and stuck in the general waste.

Or burnt in the back garden.

Boith probably more likely than endless trips to recycling (which aren't allowed here anyway).

I often try to put something like an old bread crust at the bottom of the bag in the caddy to stop it all getting too soggy. And we use the larger size caddy bags - if they’re more roomy they don’t seem to rip so easily. Also, I take the little caddy out to the bin rather than risking carrying the flimsy bag by itself. This all helps!
But every three days is about right really - we’ve only got a small inside caddy and that’s about how long it takes to fill up.

I've tried using them twice. I even applied for a job emptying them before I knewhowgross they are. The first time was in the Summer and the kitchen filled with flies and the smell was horrendous, I never used I again and vomitted emptying it, we moved house and they have just instigated it here in March. I tried it and first time it was ok. Second time was Easter and they didn5 come empty it, house full of flies again. I put outside and it was emptied yesterday bu5 I'm not using it again. I shall go back to using the compost heAp in the garden.

We don't use ours as it encourages rats.

Our cardboard goes in our recycling box, so can’t take bulky cardboard. Used to be able to put it in our garden waste bag but not anymore. So anything bulky has to go to recycling centre

We've had the food caddies for years and have always been forbidden from putting food waste in the garden waste bin as it contaminates it and means it can't be composted. Before caddies we had to put it in the general waste bin.

The only issue I've had with the kerb caddies is with the refuse collectors throwing them down after they've emptied them. Once the handle breaks they can't lock shut and then the foxes get them open and rotting food is strewn everywhere.

It doesn't bother me that much. I just think if they were going to spend money changing the way it works they could have done it a lot better.

I also think it is possible that they might start charging for garden waste now like many other councils do. Which may well lead to me being one of the most popular people on the street as I have to have a garden waste bin.

I am more annoyed about the cardboard issue, as most people seem to generate a large amount of cardboard whcih ends up wet and soggy and blowing about in winter which is not an optimal solution. So they have reduced both the amount of cardboard they will take, plus not provided a boxed/easily collectable solution that prevents littering.

What does everyone else do with cardboard ?

They take recycling every week and main bins are 3 weekly (which can be a struggle with a family of 5 and multiple pets, but it’s mostly okay).

@Sahara123 thank you I will check with ours

My part of West Yorkshire doesn’t have them, food waste goes in with general waste. I would happily use a food caddy if it was taken away each week!

I couldn’t imagine putting food waste in the main bin we have had the caddy for so long. We use a special bag, no maggots. Our main wheelie bin is never full.

We got them a couple of years ago. I have no problem with it. I have not got room for garden compost so now peelings, bones and teabags go in the small caddy on the windowsill behind the sink and it gets emptied into the big one outside when full. We have foxes but none have got in yet. If they did I'd just put a brick on it. Food waste is collected every week so it stops the big bins from stinking in the summer as they are every two weeks.

The fuss some people made when they were rolled out! Letters to the local paper and customers baning on about it at work. Ranging from "I never ever have waste," "the dog eats it all", and "I already compost at home." 🙄 honestly it was such a load of fuss about nothing. If you genuinely dont have any waste that goes in it then you just dont use it do you? But I should imagine everyone has something to put in.

Some councils provide an assisted bin service

It’s been a thing here for years but I don’t use it (I don’t even have one) I tried it but would fill it up in two days and had to put it the rest of the days food waste in the black bin so was worthless for a big family.

Still not had ours delivered..... apparently the council will give one lot of liners. Anything else we have to provide ourselves. Curious what disabled people do regarding the bins. I'm going to struggle with ours

Just moved to Stirling council where food waste and garden waste go together in a brown bin, collected fortnightly. Need a permit if you’re going to use it for garden waste. It is composted apparently. No problem at all ! When I think back to the old days where literally everything went into a metal dustbin that the poor bin men had to hoick onto their backs things have improved dramatically!

We had them where we used to live for 8 years - have now been in new area for over 4 years where they don't have them, but we still separate kitchen scraps out into a nice looking, dishwasher friendly caddy lined with a food waste bag rather than putting directly in bin. Habit i suppose, but I do think it helps with reduced bin pong!!