Lots of residents have told us they’re worried that their food waste isn’t being recycled properly.
What you may not know is that our refuse lorries have two compartments, one that holds the non-recycled waste and one that holds food waste collected for recycling.
Crews will tip the food waste caddies from your street into a wheelie bin, which is then emptied into the food waste compartment of the lorry. We have recently introduced red wheelie bins for this process as we received feedback from some residents who thought the food waste was being mixed in with general refuse. This has never been the case.
All food waste is taken to a company in Wiltshire, where a process called anaerobic digestion is used to break it down. This generates methane which is collected and converted into biogas that is used to generate electricity.
It also creates a nutrient-rich digestate, which is used as a fertiliser for agriculture and in land regeneration. You can watch this process on YouTube.
Join the thousands of residents who are already using our food waste collection service – you might be surprised about the amount that ends up in your caddy. Read more and get started.