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?

emptied into a full size bin?

Not a full sized bin
They are smaller approx capacity of two office bins

How have we got so far on this topic without a Count Binface joke?

No. Mine is clean as a whistle because Ive never used it.

It was delivered two months ago and has been in the garage ever since. Shan’t be using.

I have no idea!!!

Free waste bags from the council; change frequently during the summer; double bag food waste before putting it in the big food/garden waste bin for collection, particularly in summer.

Sorry if this has already been said, I can't bear to read the whole thread - we have just had this system introduced in our area and the local forums are full of maggot horror stories. We have not had any problems as our outdoor food caddy has been emptied every week but I know some haven't been for the whole time the system has been live (01/06/26). We don't use the indoor food caddy. We compost all our veg food waste, and we have a bag in the freezer for meat/fish waste, which is minima, and this goes in the outside caddy the morning it is collected. No maggots.

I don’t understand how this is so new for some areas. It’s been the norm for me for well over a decade. It means the food waste is collected more regularly and the main bin is much easier to keep clean as a result.

It really isn’t a big deal. The main thing really is putting in some kitchen roll at the bottom when it gets super hot to absorb some of the liquid and to keep the bigger outside food bin in the shade if you can. I’d much rather deal with maggots in a small caddy and wash it out properly than mess around with the main bin and a hose.

I use Joseph Joseph caddy bags they are expensive, I buy them when they are on offer at Amazon but they seem better than the green roll bags I used to get

So now it is labour's fault that food waste rots.

We've had our caddy for years. But we are in a staunchly labour area. My in laws live in a very tory area and chuck everything in one bin, but think that might be my in law's fault for not believing in recycling.

We've had our food waste bin and indoor caddy for just a few weeks. We've been told not to use biodegradable bags as the waste will not be composted, but will be put in an anaerobic digester and turned into fuel. This means we are allowed to put the food into normal bin liners, carrier bags or even bread bags in the caddy. The council recycles plastic bags so we don't have to feel guilty about using them. By the time the bag is tied, put in the food waste bin and the lid locked, there's not much opportunity for flies to get in.

It does seem as if this is all about how well or badly your council does things

In the heat we empty the inside caddy daily, don’t look much inside the green outside bin it goes it I just fling the bag in and hope for the best!

We’re in Scotland in a heavy SNP area so maybe we have different caddies

Yes it’s ridiculous and the recycling green bags are a massive waste of money

I actually hate the fact I have to buy the bags for all this. I pay full council tax and have always recycled everything. It is another expense isn’t it.

It’s so variable from one council to the next.
Our council has given us compostable bags so normally bags are out.
But theirs are flimsy so I think we’re going to have to buy our own.

Id find it easier if we could use normal bin bags

It varies so much council to council as ours are provided

Not RTFT, bit the legislation requiring councils to collect food waste separately by 2026 was passed in 2021, whn the tories were in power. So I don't know why Ed Miliband gets mentioned in the OP.

The bags we were given by our council (east Cambridgeshire) rip at the slightest opportunity. They’re supppsed to line the kitchen caddy and then you tie and put in the outside caddy but you just can’t tie them they are so flimsy.

I’ve ordered new ones.

previously food waste went in with general waste. No maggot problems.

I don’t think either of my caddies seal. Thinking of buying a commercial one for the inside.

Horrible things even when I lock ours foxes still manage to knock it over which unlocks it and make a mess. Stopped using it now.

I do both: kitchen roll to line the inside caddy and the outside caddy is in the shade.

Ours will be incinerated but then turned into compost so I don’t want to put plastic in the caddy as that will pollute the future compost.

i’ve often found them knocked over with food waste left all over the pavement - i really don’t like them.

I could empty the inside caddy daily but it wouldn’t make any difference to what happens inside the outside caddy.