Scintillating thread alert! If you have a food waste caddy in your kitchen, do you take the waste out every day?

[BarbaraVineFan]

I find that, especially in this heat, I am needing to take the food waste out daily- but I’m getting through a lot of plastic bags. (Obviously they are the biodegradable kind, but still!) Is this something that everyone does? Am I a disgusting slob for wanting to keep the food waste bag in the bin until it fills up a bit?

It is premium food. You’re right that the litter tray is much less disgusting now, but the same can’t be said for the food leftovers unfortunately.

Could you feed the cat as soon as you get up instead of just before you go to work? Ours do not permit us to delay their breakfast and they hoover it up in about a minute (we leave kibble down for the rest of the day).

Cat food is awful - I’m definitely having to take mine out more with the combination of heat and cat food.

Interesting question! I've just moved house and the council food waste people are VERY strong on not using compostable bags. Does anyone know if this is just because we have anaerobic digesters in Exeter, and everyone else has a different system? What are other people's local council rules?

"Q. Why can I use ‘any bag’ to line my caddy? Shouldn’t I be using ‘compostable’ bags?
All bags – including compostable bags – will be removed at the food waste processing plant before the food is sorted and taken to an energy from waste plant to be converted into electricity.
Compostable bags are also very stretchy and are more difficult to remove by machinery than other bags, meaning the removal process uses significantly more energy.
For this reason, the anaerobic digestion plant would prefer that you do not use compostable bags."

exeter.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/bin-collections/food-waste/food-waste-frequently-asked-questions/

My cat often has some leftover food which in hot weather flies like to lay their eggs in. I don't put the cat food in the council food waste caddy, I put it in one of the free compostable caddy liners supplied by the council, put a squirt of bleach on top which will kill any maggots that might hatch, and put it in my general waste wheelie bin.

I have 2 food waste caddies, one for veg peelings and tea bags which goes in my compost heap and the other for non-compostable food waste. I keep them both in my attached garage which has a door from the kitchen. I usually empty once a week because that's how often the food waste is collected, but really I should empty more frequently as they can smell in hot weather and the compost caddy liner has usually started to break down.

Quite.

When you read those instruction leaflets saying things like 'dn't put food down the toilet' I do wonder why they would have to write it, as - well, who would ?

Then - MN, as ever - comes up trumps - with someone seemingly suggesting it as if it were a normal thing to do

Fish or chicken skin, scraps of meat or dairy, bones, egg shells - same day

Peelings, pips & coffee grounds go in the compost.

We don't have a cat, and we waste very little so our waste food is going to be the tiniest rubbish collection ever.

Cat food reeks when it hangs around for too long. Maybe just take that out separately, put it directly into the outside bin and keep the food waste bin for other food waste.

Most days.

I'm I have a counter top one for my compost bin, veggie stuff, that gets emptied when full. Also one under the sink for the stuff the council takes: bones, kitchen roll, oil, etc. It goes into the green garden waste bin in a special bag required by the council, which is collected weekly.

Neither smells, though to be fair if I have seafood, the debris is bagged up and goes straight into the council bin.

Or put it in the freezer and the DH uses it to knock up a stir-fry for himself 😂😂😋
As posted on a recent thread.. absolute quality.

We’ve only recently starting using the bio bags in ours. Previously we just emptied it and washed it. But it is never too icky tbh.

At this time of year it needs emptying max every other day bc fruit flies. It’s not such an issue in the winter tho (our kitchen is north-facing and always cool).

No pet food tho – just veg peelings and banana skins really.

oh where is the laughing reaction!

We’re more like once a week too, maybe twice if it’s really hot. We don't throw away enough food to do it evry day which I guess is a good thing!

The supplied bin isn't too bad for smells cause of the lockable lid but opening it after a couple of days was a bit grim, especially with cat food in there. the council supplied bags were useless though, they start going off after a few days and I had one split just lifting it out which was disgusting

We switched to thicker ones (these ones: www.bio-future.co.uk/product-page/6l-compostable-bin-liners) and it’s been much better. They actually last the week. I think Vegware do similar but you need to bulk buy them

I’m not buying bags , we get fuck all from our council tax. Live down a track . Had threats from council that they will stop collecting and we will have to take our rubbish to a bin on the main road ,no way. We put our food bin out when asked they took three weeks to empty it . At which point it was simply put in the normal bin and that emptied into the truck.

We’re not allowed to use compostable ones either. When we started having to do it at work last year we asked our contractor and he said it’s because a big claw thing rips open the plastic bags and removes them in one piece whereas the bio ones start to disintegrate while they wait for collection and then stretch and come apart. But they aren’t suitable for the anaerobic digester.

Fortunately the cats hoover food here.
Green bags for kitchen caddies, line the caddy.
Empty when full, every 2/3 days.
In the hot weather I double bagged them and put them in the bottom drawer of the freezer to prevent the kerb side caddy humming and getting maggoty.
DH was horrified.

We have cats. While it’s been hot I have changed the compost caddy for a large Tupperware that can fit in the fridge and I store it in the fridge and put it out every other day. I flat shared with a Swiss man for a few weeks once and he told me in Switzerland it’s standard to keep your compost waste in the fridge. Not sure if that’s true but it doesn’t smell, doesn’t get maggots and I will continue like this till mid September I should think.

Re premium cat food, I’ve found one brand that my cats always eat every tiny scrap, but we have 4 cats and can’t afford it full time. They get that for about 50% of their diet. Definitely the way forward if affordable! Other premium brands are mixed success.

I have a cat but there’s no leftover food! Maybe tiny bits. I don’t find it smells, and I empty it into the outside food bin once a week when it’s collected.

We have had these food waste bins for over 15yrs.

Small caddy sits in the kitchen lined with a biodegradable bag (supplied by the LA). When it is full, top of the bag is tied and the (sealed) bag is put into the larger outside food waste bin (which is unlined). Come collection day, the bin is emptied and in the unlikely event that there is any residue in it, I give it a quick wipe out.

No flies or smells.
Works well for us.👍

Usually put it outside just before bin day. Otherwise it attracts the foxes if left outside.

Our council specifically asks that you don't put leftover food in the food waste. I know some others are different though

You can buy a liner for the outdoor caddy - you could just put the catfood straight into that?

Leftover PET food, that should be!

On the food bin front, I use one of these 🦊

not much choice as to size or colour, but you always get a free replacement