Food Waste Collections

Sections:

Introduction

lady scrapping leftover food in to caddy

Last year Bristol recycled 20,840 tonnes of food, cardboard and garden waste - this would otherwise have been sent to landfill.

If you have kerbside waste collections then you are eligible for food waste collections.

To use this service you will need a brown food waste bin and a kitchen caddy. If we haven’t already provided you with one, order one online here, contact our Customer Service Centre on 0117 922 2100 or email recycling@bristol.gov.uk.

Brown bin – this is the bin you put out on your collection day every week. It is designed to be stored outside and should be kept locked.

Kitchen caddy – this smaller bin is kept in your kitchen and is a convenient way of collecting your food scraps. When it’s full, empty it into your brown bin.

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Using your brown bin

LINE IT

To help keep your kitchen caddy clean and free from nasty smells, line it with compostable liners (click here for details of where to buy them) or newspaper before putting any food waste in it.

It’s up to you if you want to line your brown bin as well – if you use compostable liners or your food is well wrapped up in newspaper, you shouldn’t need to.

SCRAPE IT

Scrape all your food leftovers into your kitchen caddy. When it’s full, empty it into your larger brown bin.

If you choose to use newspaper to wrap your food waste in, you’ll need to fold it over to make a parcel before putting it into your brown bin, to prevent spills.

LOCK IT

Keep your brown bin locked at all times to keep any insects out and the smells in.

Put your brown bin out and we’ll empty it every week for you.

For extra freshness, particularly during hot weather, it’s a good idea to rinse out your kitchen caddy and brown bin with soapy water from time to time.

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What you can put in your brown bin

fruit and vegetables
meat and fish
cooked and uncooked food
leftover food
bread, pasta, cereal and rice
tea bags and coffee grounds
dairy products and egg shells
bones
small cardboard items such as toilet rolls or egg boxes
small amounts of shredded paper
you can line your kitchen caddy or brown bin with newspaper or compostable liners made of paper or corn starch (corn starch liners must show the compostable ‘seedling’ logo as shown here)

Sorry we can’t take:

plastic (including bags made from degradable plastic)
corn starch liners without the compostable logo
metal and glass
any other household waste

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Where does your food waste go?

We send all your food waste, cardboard and garden waste to a composting facility in Dorset where it is turned into compost.

The materials are enclosed in a container and turned by a machine while heated up to over 70 degrees Celsius over a three-week period. The heating kills any harmful bacterial and speeds up the composting process. The material is then taken outside and left in a large compost heap for three months. The finished compost is used as a soil improver on farms.

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Food Waste Collections

Introduction

Using your brown bin

LINE IT

SCRAPE IT

LOCK IT

What you can put in your brown bin

Where does your food waste go?

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