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Original poster

Why don’t we use waste disposal units

27 replies

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 04/12/2018 22:39

I was flicking through a kitchen brochure and happened on the (very small) waste disposal section. I know Americans use these, but why haven’t they cottoned on in the UK where the plumbing system is generally pretty good (I think Confused)

Are they bad for the environment?

Are they costly?

Do they break often?

Should I consider buying one?

Would love to chuck all my leftovers down the sink Grin and replace the stinky bin.

Please enlighten me!

OP posts:
sbplanet · 04/12/2018 22:41

Try composting with a wormery.

LoniceraJaponica · 04/12/2018 22:43

They are bad for the environment. That one reason is good enough for me.

Also, I'm not sure if our sewage systems and waste pipes are able to cope.

AbbieLexie · 04/12/2018 22:44

We have 'invested' in a Smart Cara waste unit. Love - Love - Love.

minipie · 04/12/2018 22:49

A lot of our plumbing system is Victorian and not designed to cope with anything more solid than poo. Certainly I wouldn’t put hard things like meat, fish bones or prawn shells down one and those are the worst things for smells.

They are also very noisy to run and make a nasty grinding noise. Although to be fair you don’t need to run them for long at a time.

If you accidentally drop anything in (like a spoon) it’s highly risky trying to retrieve it, but you have to or it will bugger the blades.

I grew up with one (parents fell in love with them in the US) but won’t be putting one in my house

HerRoyalNotness · 04/12/2018 22:50

We have one (us). I hate it. We don’t use it at all. The toddler can reach the on/off switch. Makes me shudder.

Original poster
PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 04/12/2018 22:53

I read in the brochure that they grind the waste into tiny pieces which then gets fished out of the sewerage and composted or summat?

Perhaps waste disposal units have come on in recent years?

I’m not in the habit of dropping stuff down my sink- but could see how that could happen scraping plates.

It just feels so wrong to scrape your dinner plates down the sink.

OP posts:
Original poster
PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 04/12/2018 22:55

Ooh goodness - hadn’t thought about the toddler using it Shock thought it would have a safety mechanism. That’s enough to put me right off. Thank you Wink

OP posts:
BubblesBuddy · 04/12/2018 23:45

The switch is on the work top. It would be an enormous toddler to reach that when standing on the floor! Obviously, if you push the button it works but you can isolate the device when you are not using it by switching it off at the switch like any other electric appliance. It doesn’t have to be on permanently if you don’t want it to be.

I have two but we are not mains sewer. Septic tank and soakaway. They are not very noisy. They take most food waste and I have no rotting compost in my compost bin for the Council each week. They do chicken bones but nothing bigger. The waste ends up like soup and it’s ok for sewers. We certsjnly have never had a single problem and we’ve had one for 40 years in various houses.

I’ve never had them chew anything by mistake either. If you have a WDU you are careful. I like mine and they are perfectly safe. (Unless you let your toddler play on the worksurface of course!)

IggityZiggityZoom · 04/12/2018 23:50

The type with the button are called "batch feed" and never in a million years would I have one. We have an insinkerator that must have its magnetic cap on to function so no chance of hands getting near a whirling blade. It means never pulling bits of food out of the drains again. You can just rinse the plates straight into the sink and then turn it on. Bliss. I love ours. It's going strong after 5 years. It doesn't smell at all.

Original poster
PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 05/12/2018 07:55

The insinkerator is the one I saw- how much are they to buy and install?

Why do people think they are bad for the environment- surely they are no different to poo going into the sewerage? I don’t get the difference. You can only put organic waste into them.

OP posts:
Amaaboutthis · 05/12/2018 08:00

We have got one as do most people I I know. My parents have always had one

PinkOboe · 05/12/2018 08:02

Fatbergs

TranmereRover · 05/12/2018 08:03

I've got an insinkerator and bloody love it. They're suprisingly cheap to buy and if you've got the right holes in your countertop you can install yourself (I say this as a DIY fool). I think I got a reduced old model for about £90 and they go up to £250 or so based on the level of grind and noise you want. I still compost because I want the compost and also still use a food bin so ours gets relatively light use - it's more for wet horrors like the rinsing of the weetabix bowl and non compostable waste like eggshells / toast crusts. My mother thinks nothing of shoving large items down hers (in a flat so shared system!) but I've got new plumbing on a private septic / soakaway so not going to block the pipes of an entire community.

TranmereRover · 05/12/2018 08:04

Pinkoboe - you're going to get fatbergs from stupid people pouring cooking oil down their sink or washing up greasy pans without wiping the fat off first; waste disposal units aren't the main cause of that

Ifailed · 05/12/2018 08:05

the main issue is that our water treatment plants are not geared up to receive a lot of solids, unlike the US where nearly 1/2 of all homes have a waste disposal unit, as opposed to the 6% in the UK.
They would require a lot of investment to upgrade, and guess who'd have to pay for that?

Sparklfairy · 05/12/2018 08:05

Anyone seen that orphan black scene where the woman gets her long scarf caught in it and strangles herself? Shock

SwearyG · 05/12/2018 08:06

I have one. I hate it and barely use it and it still causes me grief. It was installed by the developers when the flat was built as modern and marvellous and it’s anything but. You can’t put anything fibrous down it as it blocks the pipes - thanks DH for demonstrating with the outer leaves of cabbage one Christmas Day that rendered my kitchen plumbing unusable so I washed up in the bath. It also stinks. If you use it it stinks, if you don’t use it it stinks. A horrible sour mouldy smell that invades everywhere if you don’t give it a proper going over far more regularly than you would normal sinks and drains.

GetOffTheTableMabel · 05/12/2018 08:10

I’ve never had one before but when we moved house last year, our new kitchen had one already installed.
Our council has a very good food waste recycling scheme. It’s collected weekly and used to generate electricity so we still use that for most food waste. I do like it for sloppy foods that would really bog up the bin. It does bother me that you have to run the tap while using it. It feels wasteful both environmentally and because we now have a water meter.

Original poster
PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 05/12/2018 08:19

Interesting responses - thanks all

We will consider getting one but definitely wouldn’t put all our waste down it

OP posts:
GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 05/12/2018 08:26

We've had one for many years, but use it very rarely now, since the council started collecting food waste and it dawned on us that they're bad for the environment - more electricity, more water - never mind any problems they cause in drains.
I'm sure I read somewhere that one country - Germany? - has banned them.

I used to like ours for disposal of potentially very smelly/fly attracting bits of meat or fish, but now I just put anything like that in a (compostable) bag in the freezer until the night before the bin men come..

fabulousathome · 05/12/2018 10:29

I've had one (different ones) for over 30 years. Love it and have the dishwasher very close to it. I didn't have one for a year and missed it.

Our Local Authority (a London Borough) doesnt collect food waste. We don't eat meat so no bones or animal fat in mine. Its never been blocked either.

wowfudge · 05/12/2018 11:25

The drains and sewerage system aren't designed to cope with people putting their kitchen waste down them. Please don't put one in. They use additional water and electricity. Not environmentally friendly.

expatmigrant · 05/12/2018 11:32

I have one and use it all the time. Push button is in worktop next to sink.
I do not put meat or animal fat in mine.

SteveMessy · 02/01/2024 21:13

I installed a waste disposal unit 4 years ago as was fed up with finding maggots in the food waste bin that presumably came from old pet food, it is the best thing I have done to our kitchen. Convenient and hygenic. You only run it for a very short time do energy use, noise etc are not reason enough to reject one.
if you go drop something inside such as a spoon just isolate the power supply and fish it out. The blades aren’t sharp as they grind the waste not cut it so no chance of cutting yourself.

parietal · 02/01/2024 22:43

I have one but very rarely use it. I never deliberately put things down, but it does mean that if bits off the plates etc go into the sink, I don't have to spend time picking them out of the drain.

and I never put fatty things / oil / butter down the sink. that is the worst thing for blocked drains and fatbergs.

our drains are prone to blocking easily and the plumber always says waste disposers make blocked drains much worse / more frequent because you are putting more stuff and bigger bits of stuff down the sink.

and yes, they are banned in Germany as far as I know.