Do people dislike having a food waste bin collected separately

[WillowTit]

do you dislike your food waste bin?
my colleagues dont like it
all sorts of complaints

the bin lorry will smell is one example

We have one. I find the thought of throwing food in the normal bin with normal waste more disgusting.

We started having a separate food waste bin last year. It's much better because the food waste is collected weekly now, whereas previously it went in with the other non recycling and was only collected fortnightly, so it used to get really smelly in warm weather.

We've been separating food waste for years here in Guernsey- since 2018- and I don't think I've ever heard anyone express an issue with it. It really does make you more aware of food waste, and it keeps the main bin from getting nasty.

Having to separate our recycling into individual cardboard, tins and plastics, and glass bags to be collected on alternating weeks is a right pain, though.

I'm another poster who was surprised that food waste recycling isn't done everywhere. We've had it where I live for ages. Never had any issues with it. We get a small caddy for the kitchen and a big one for outside. The outside one is lockable.

We just empty the small one in the house very regularly in the summer to avoid smells/fruit flies.

The food outside is going to smell wherever you put it. You either get stinky black bags/wheelie bins or stinky smaller food caddies. Because it's emptied weekly there's probably less smell than if I dumped it in the black bags that are collected fortnightly.

I'm more surprised there are still areas that don't have separate bins for collecting food waste. We have a small bin with a lever handle that keeps the lid locked down, which stops the foxes. The refuse collectors are worse because they just throw them back into the front gardens and this can cause them to break.

I'm interested in getting a hot composter. Those that have them - what are the ongoing costs, if any? Do you have to add anything or replace any parts (eg filters) periodically? What can't go in them?

I suspect this is must be a peak Mumsnet thread. The proportion of people composting is staggering. Where do you all live where having a composter is practical? How about everyone in flats or with tiny town yards?

And what’s with the “no food waste” brigade? As the person just upthread says, don’t you cook? Never have a roast? Make everyone finish every scrap on their plates? Eat your orange peels? Dont cook veg?

Have to admit I am bracing myself for the change. We currently have two bin collections a week (don’t hate me!) and just put mixed recycling bags into the wheely/ dustbin/ bin cupboard with our black bags. My kitchen bins are hidden inside my kitchen furniture and I don’t look forward to having a caddy thing floating around. Plus, I have a hole in my kitchen counter with a bin under it which is fabulous for just sweeping veg peelings/cake trimming etc straight off the board into the bin and I don’t look forward to losing that facility. I don’t have room outside for a second wheely bin - there is just a little platform at the top of my lightwell steps - so no idea how we would sort out one of these three bin systems.

Plus, change is always uncomfortable, so I do understand it. So far we have heard nothing from our council, but it it changes after the May elections I imagine things might alter quickly.

When we had one we kept the caddy in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. It was fine

Honestly, my local town Facebook group has been full of angry posts about the changes for months now. Absolutely ludicrous and I really cannot see their issue. My neighbour was one. Her family had 2 black bins previously that were always full. They’re a family of 6. Were a family of 5, and barely half fills single back bin every 2 weeks, so I really wasn’t worried, and always wondered how her bins were so full. Anyway, one day I happened to walk past her and she got talking about it so I said we weren’t worried about the new smaller black bin coming in (our council has replaced the 240l black bin with a 140l one) and she seemed surprised. Turned out they basically weren’t recycling anywhere near as much as they could. I saw her last night and she stopped me to say she couldn’t believe the difference to her bin now they’ve been recycling more…

So I think a lot of people just can’t be arsed to separate out their waste. They want a single bin and everything go into that. Tough. I personally think it’s great they’re finding a way to utilise food waste - and hopefully it will help people to really look at where they’re generating food waste and reduce it!

i guess people dont like change
they have to hunt around for their excuses to not use the caddy

Came in where I am this year. I do use it, it doesn't smell.

If I have off cuts of gristly meat I freeze them and then add that to the bin at the last minute so that bin won't smell.
It's collected weekly but you don't have to take ot up if there is not much stuff.
Of our immediate neighbours 3 out of 5 of us use the food bin.

I’m pleased that our council has recently issued food waste caddies and bags. It’s no big deal, I just had to slightly rearrange my worktop for the little one and move a pot by the back door to make room for the big one. They’re going to collect them every week not on a 2 week cycle.

Logistically my biggest concern is traning a dyspraxic (poor aim) autistic (resistant to change) teenager to accurately get his plate scrapings into the small caddy compared to the bin.

I already do enough sighing as my household cock up what goes in what bin. DH was insisting something was recyclable the other day... but it isn't by our council in the green bin, which is the key practical point 🤦‍♀️

The caddy has gone out for its first collection anyway.

The cupboard under my kitchen sink is already in use for waste collection of recyclables and non recyclables. I don't have anywhere in the kitchen for a waste bin, it would be in the dining area.

I dislike them, though I get the eco reasons for them.

I live in a flat in a city centre with a small kitchen. When I first moved here, having one kitchen bin was sufficient. That alone took up enough of the limited small floor space. Then we had to add an additional bin, so we could sort recycling. Now we dance around two bins, needing to move one every time we need to get into the cupboard they’re in front of.

My kitchen counter space is very limited, as is cupboard space, but I’m now expected to magically expand my kitchen once again to somehow find room for a third rubbish receptacle in the shape of a food caddy. And it stinks and makes me heave every time I have to open it to scrape food waste into it. When it was mixed in with the other rubbish in the black bag, the smell was far less, and it was changed twice a week. Now I’m expected to use that food bin for a week, and I can tell you that any leftover fish from 6 days ago is extremely fragrant, to the point it is absolutely nauseatingly disgusting.

The foxes get into the outside food waste bins easily, causing a lot more mess to be cleared up.

So all in all, it’s been a big negative for me personally.

I don't get all the angst. We've had a food bin for years and years. I never knew I lived in a progressive council! The caddy sits on the window sill in the kitchen by the sink. Yes, it gets a bit gross sometimes. I use compostible bags to contain the food. No, not much food gets wasted in our household but you'd be amazed how much it all adds up. I usually have 2 bags worth, sometimes only 1, per week. No, the foxes don't attack the bins, though my cats do if there are chicken bones or fish skins in the caddy! The main kitchen bin stays fresh and clean for weeks on end, and rarely needs emptying, which is a big plus. My only negative is that, without the caddy, I guess I might put my peelings on the compost heap, but I could do that anyway if I wanted to, I'm just too lazy or forgetful to think of it.

We’ve had them for years with no problems. Small caddy goes under the sink with a compostable bag in it, emptied into the bigger one outside which is locked so foxes/cats etc don’t get into it and it’s collected every week. No issues with maggots even in the hottest of summers. No noticeable smell in the kitchen.
I really can’t see what all the fuss is about.

We've had food waste for years, a little caddy for the kitchen and then a bigger bin to decant into. We always use a compostable bag and rinse out the caddy if necessary so there's no smell so there won't be in the bin lorry either. We also have a bucket for compost items so there is only a small amount which goes as food waste - the good thing with the caddy is it has a lid. Our outside foodwaste bin locks shut on the handle so foxes etc can't get into it. It's a very small thing to help reduce landfill.

I remember being annoyed when re-cycling first started - what a nuisance to separate paper, glass, etc !
Soon got used to it, & I've been using food waste bins for about 5 years without a second thought.

There is always a biodegradable liner in our kitchen caddy, so no unwrapped food goes in the bigger bin for collection. Unless people are putting unwrapped food in the bins, I don’t see a problem.

Yes it's disgusting. I live in an area with communal bins for the street and they tried it for a bit (oh GOD the smell, like rotting vomit) and eventually had to take them away again. I would simply stop eating food if this were necessary.

It’s good, we’ve had ours a few months here but had it for ages in our previous house. It means the waste bin is just dry stuff that can’t be recycled.

Here we can use any bag, as it gets stripped off at the waste plant. I put a kitchen roll or newspaper under the bag.

One thing that has made a difference to the smell is to let teabags cool and dry out a bit, so not introducing damp into the caddy. We have a ramekin by the kettle for used bags, which is emptied periodically and popped in the dishwasher every night.

We've had food waste collection ever since I moved here - about 12 years. I have a small food waste caddy in the kitchen which I put compostable bags in (available from Lidl), and when the bag is full I pop it into the bigger food waste bin outside. This is collected weekly along with other recyclable items in their own boxes. The outdoor food waste bin does get a bit stinky in the height of summer, so every now and then I slosh some bleach into it and leave it to dry. I don't have an enormous kitchen but there's space in the corner for the small food waste caddy. Its really not a problem!

Slop slop into the sticky bin to sit stinking for a week or two or three.

I'm surprised to find this is new to some people. We have had a green bin for food and garden waste for at least 15 years. We are apparently getting a separate food bin soon which won't make any difference - we will still fill our little kitchen food bin and tip it into a big bin every day or two. Never noticed any particular lorry smells.

Any scraps of meat or fish can go in a bag in the freezer until the night before the bin men come - that will avoid any smell or attracting flies.
And no, I don’t have a big freezer, before anyone wonders - just a standard under the fridge job.