Is your Ed Miliband compostable food waste caddy a health hazard?

[AndyBurkhamstocks]

On the government directive our local council has taken away our landfill bins and replaced them with 1 tiny landfill bin and a compost food waste caddy which is removed on a weekly basis for burning.

I have put a (compostable) bag of food waste in the council food waste bin and bloody hell, it’s a sea of maggots and live flies. I feel sorry for the bin people who have to collect this stuff on Thursday. I have already drained out the liquid before a previous collection and I wash and dry the caddy after each collection but f me, the only way to stop the food waste from putrefying in this heat is to keep it in the fridge .

Am I the only one f ing this up? How do you stop the liquefaction of your food waste and a potential cholera outbreak?

Our local Facebook page has combusted recently because of this. What I can’t understand is why a weekly food waste collection is more likely to result in fly infestation etc. than the current two-weekly general waste collection.

The outdoor caddy has a handle that locks the lid shut, so it’s not going to blow open, or be tipped open by enterprising rats.

Time will tell I expect, but some councils have had this system in place for 10 years and the end times have yet to arrive.

We’ve had compost bins for at least 10 years. Absolutely fine. We use one for our garden composter and everything else goes in the food waste bin.

They’re new in east Cambridgeshire,

just started collecting them two weeks ago.

food caddy collection is weekly. It doesn’t seem to seal and yes maggots and flies. Not good.

We’ve had this system for nearly 25 years. It works fine. Make sure you keep the lid tight shut so fllies can’t get in to lay eggs. Wrap up bones or leftovers in newspaper, keep the bin in tbe shade. In very hot weather, consider freezing any meaty or fishy waste and put in the bin the night before collection.

And it’ll be fine.

Do your outdoor caddies not lock shut?

They’re not as secure as landfill bins. Cats and foxes can open them and scatter the contents everywhere

OP mine does get maggoty in the summer, I agree, but on the flip side before I had it my kitchen bin got the flies so at least it’s outside

Ok but how is that any different to having it tied up in a regular bag in your landfill bin??

Do you have a special refrigerated landfill bin?
Do the local flies only know how to get into food bins?

We got our food caddies last year and I haven't had any issues. I empty the indoor caddy every day, and tie up the compostable bags properly before putting them in the outside caddy. All the bins live in the shade.

The reason you get flies and maggots is because flies can reach the contents, probably because the bags are not tied up effectively. That used to happen in our black bin occasionally, it's user error, nothing to do with which bin/caddy you are using.

If the compostable bags are decomposing before collection, double bag it or try a different brand.

We empty small indoor caddy every day or 2, outdoor caddy is a bit smelly at the end of a hot week, but we rinse it out after the waste is collected.

This is what I do.

Oh ok. Put something heavy on top maybe?

We are told to put food waste in bags inside the caddy. They do not specify compostable bags. I have tried compostable ones but they do leak everywhere, so I just use normal plastic bags in the kitchen caddy. I tie up the bag and put it in the outside caddy when it gets a bit whiffy (several times a week at the moment). We’ve had a few maggots when a bag has leaked a bit but not that often.

The bin men tear the bags and empty the food out of them. Ours are collected once a week. I don’t have a problem with the system.

Seriously, I've never known anything get through the bags. Has the bin been left open? Are you getting the outsides of the bags dirty? Have you washed the bin and inside lid out with boiling water?

Maybe there's something weird about your council's design or the way you are handling the bags, but it should be possible to solve this.

Oh we’ve tried 🤣

It isn’t fine. The bags go putrid in a few days, I have put a newly filled bag into the outside caddy and got a face full of flies.

We’ve had them for years in Ireland, but to be composted, not burned? the one thing that bugs me is people acting like our refuse bins are food free- we’ve a list of things that shouldn’t go in and cooked food is one of them.

Just make sure you tie the bags tightly. We had s couple of maggots in ours last week. DH just tipped them onto the shed roof for the birds to eat

Mine is supposed to but doesn’t.

we got them recently and yes our local Facebook pages are also combusting.

i don’t have much food waste but no maggot problems with the big wheely bin (we only got a wheely bin a few weeks ago as well before that it was black sacks for general rubbish).

Maybe the bags are a problem and degrading too quickly then? I presume councils provide different quality bags (if you don't buy your own?)

We get maggots every year without fail, except this year - really odd as side of lud has chipped of there it's knocked and emptied. They're a real pain to kill off between emptying and rinsing - a tip, white wine vinegar helps!

What do you do with cooked food then ?
I let the leftovers go cold and bag it up in the green bags , tie it up and put it in the caddy. Nobody has ever says anything and it’s been collected each week.

Tips to prevent maggots/flies: pour some salt in with the food waste; or freeze the food waste until collection day.

The outside bin is lockable with its own handle. The bags aren’t dirty as they go straight from the kitchen to the caddy outside the kitchen door. No I don’t wash it with boiling water as I fear it might melt. For the record, the lids on our new black bins don’t shut. They were all warped on arrival.

And the council have directly attributed the new bins to Ed Miliband’s net zero policy. I had a food waste bin 10 years ago in a different house/council and I never had this problem.

We’ve never, not once in 15 years +, had flies or maggots in ours. I think you’re doing it wrong.

Always keep the lid shut on the small indoor caddy and obv the outdoor one too. Maggots only get in there if flies can get to the food. So keep it closed and ta da no flies or maggots.

I usually put a stale piece of bread in the bottom of each food waste bag, if I’ve got one - stops it getting too wet if I’m throwing away wettish food.

Also the slightly larger size caddy bags make it easier.

Love them because it means my main bin never smells now.

The council provide bags? Hahahahahahahahahahajajajahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha