Recycling food waste and the awful kitchen caddy

[howcouldlifebeasier]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to know if it was just me that isn't recycling all my food waste? I've tried but just can't stand that awful kitchen caddy. Has anyone found anything better? Or, if you could have your dream kitchen caddy what would it look like and do?

[Pootles2010]

We've never had problem either. We have ugly brown caddy - keep meaning to get pretty one from Lakeland but don't get round to it.

Don't see why food waste in caddy is more gross/smelly than food waste in main bin? I put used kitchen roll/tissues in ours too, which seems to help make things less slimy somehow!

[Seeline]

Our Council is very specific about what can go in the food waste bin - just food waste really, which I think makes it worse. I have composted n the past and that was fine because it was just veggie peelings and fruit skins mainly and that doesn't smell or really attract flies. The food recycling is all waste food so raw and cooked, including meat and bones - that really smells. we are not allowed to put garden waste or paper in it so there is nothing to 'dilute' it. We also have a specific food waste bin that the caddy is emptied into for collection (to go along with the paper recycling bin, the glass/plastic/tins recycling bin and the dustbin!!) and this can get really smelly too.

[FoxSticks]

We had a couple of weeks where we didn't have a caddy as we were waiting for one from the council. I found the smell from chucking food in the general kitchen bin far worse than anything we ever had with a caddy. As it is we don't bother using the indoor one anyway, we just have a fresh green bag on the side every morning that goes to the outside caddy every evening.

[misscph1973]

It's definitely a good idea to put paper in the food waste, it helps a healthy decomposition. I suggest that anyone who has problems with smells and maggots ring the council and ask for help and advice, it's not supposed to be like that!

(I always used to use just a bucket without a lid (as I empty it often), but my MIL was so disgusted she actually bought me a lidded compost caddy for Christmas...)

[Purpleroxy]

Keep main food bin outside or garage if you have one.

Get a china casserole dish with a lid and line it with a cornstarch bag. At the end of the day, remove cornstarch bag containing food into main food waste container outside. Dishwash china container as often as you like.

[specialsubject]

never had maggots - that can be caused by meat in the food waste. But why would meat be there?

if you are chucking lots of leftovers, serve less. That way unused food hasn't been on plates and can be served again. If there's anything in the food waste apart from peelings, tea bags and eggshells you are binning money.

[EssenceOfGelfling]

We've never got on with kitchen caddies until we got an Oxo Good Grips caddy.

It is genuinely very easy to clean, we empty it every evening after dinner and then a quick rinse and wipe under the tap. The interior is smooth so no awkward corners. Its also dishwasher proof. Its big enough to scoop food off plates. As we empty it every day there's no problems with smell or flies, although the green wheely bin outside mings.

Feel quite odd to rave about a kitchen bin but genuinely do recommend it if you want to recycle food waste.

[Seeline]

Our Council food waste is not composted - I think it goes to make energy of some sort, so we put all leftovers, including cooked food and bones etc in there so it can stink. We are not allowed to put paper etc in it. All our garden waste is collected separately and composted...

[bochead]

We have a wormery by the back door - most food waste goes straight in that, meaning no build up of stinky rubbish. We also have a green council kitchen caddy lined with compostable bags under the kitchen sink that we use for meat and citrus waste - in summer that's emptied daily to the main council food bin outside.

Once a week when the food bin is collected I swill both food caddy & bin in bleach then rinse under the garden tap. Both are given a final rinse with a dash of zoflora.

For the wormery I occasionally add a bit of bokashi bran and have a small bag of lime to hand just in case we get an infestation of maggoty flies but have never needed it. Suprisingly it doesn't smell unpleasant either.

I think you have to stay on top of this recycling malarkey. Food is collected weekly but all other rubbish only fortnightly here and we are only allowed 3 bags of non-recyclable rubbish per fortnight. By the end of the two weeks I am frustrated with the amount of recycling cluttering my patio in it's different coloured bags, and am saving for a proper wheelie bin just to store it in neatly as our council only collects bags.

[PenelopeGarciasCrazyHair]

I don't get why people say that food waste bins stink. Surely rotting food will stink regardless if which bin it's in, caddy or rubbish bin?

I use a caddy with a paper liner in it and empty the bag into the wheelie bin every other day or so. If I don't empty the bag into the outside bin, it may become a bit damp and there can even be mould growing on the bag but it never smells because the lid is shut. And I have a very keen sense of smell (I can tell if my kids haven't flushed the upstairs loo from the bottom of the stairs!)

If you put some newspaper into the caddy to help absorb moisture and change the bag regularly it shouldn't be an issue.

[Sonnet]

we have a caddy in the kitchen which I line with compostable bags and empty everyday/2 days at the most - doesn't smell and fits just in side the bottom of a cupboard.
I also clean it out after every empty and squirt it with diluted zoflora.

We have a lockable larger caddy outside that these bags go in to.

I compost all my veg peelings so not much actually goes in the waste bag.

[hedgehoglurker]

I use a 12 litre pedal bin with bags inside (was a bathroom bin that I found was too big). So much easier to use than the little 5 litre caddy, as you have both hands free to scrape off plates etc. I also use a clear bag (usually reused packaging) over the lid which prevents it getting yucky. All really easy to clean once in a while and the inner pail can be easily carried to the outside bin weekly, or whenever required.

[Cynderella]

I use paper liners (www.alina.co.uk/bin-liners-sacks). They're more expensive than the cornstarch ones but they are so much better and help to make good compost.

[trinity0097]

I have a Joseph Joseph caddy with liners and a charcoal filter. Looks stylish and no smells!

[highlandcoo]

YY to the Oxo Good Grips food caddy. Miles better than the old metal one we had, and the council supplies disposable bags so it works really well.