Compostables
The Council collects compostables from the kerbside in the green
and yellow compostables bin. This bin is for both food and garden
materials and is collected on a weekly basis. Please check the
kerbside collection days section for further information
However, wherever practical, home composting should always be a
first option. For more information about home composting, please
follow the link at the bottom of this page.
If you do not home compost, then compostables should be placed
into your green and yellow wheeled bin. The compostables are sent
to an in-vessel composting plant which works in a similar way to
garden compost bins except that it works very much faster because
the temperature, air and moisture are closely controlled.
All your food and garden waste is used as a growing medium in
local agriculture, mostly on the same farm site as where it is
treated.
The following is a list of materials that will be accepted in
the compostables bin:
- Vegetables and fruit peelings
- Tea bags and tea leaves
- Egg shells
- Dairy products
- Coffee grounds
- Raw/cooked fruits and vegetables
- Bread
- Meat and fish (including bones)
- Plate scrapings
- Garden prunings
- Grass cuttings
- Old flowers
- Bedding plants (please remove as much soil as possible)
- Leaves
- Hedge clippings
- Young annual weeds
Please place items into your compostables bin in any of the
following ways:
- Loose (i.e. not wrapped)
- In a sheet of newspaper
- In sheets of paper kitchen roll
- In a compostable bag
- Please ensure that all food packaging/wrappers have
been removed
The only bags that can be used in the compostables bin are
COMPOSTABLE bags/liners. These types of bags will
have the composting symbol on them (see below). Compostable bags
will compost down, as they are made of starch, unlike any plastic
bio-degradable or degradable bags which will not be accepted.
Your bin may not be collected if it contains any plastic bags,
black sacks, bio degradable bags or degradable bags. Please read
below about the other materials that are not accepted in the
compostables bin.
Finding your way round the Maximise Recycling Scheme
When a material is presented in the incorrect bin, or is
presented in the bin incorrectly, then this is referred to as
‘contamination’. Examples of contamination include placing food in
the recyclables bin instead of the compostables bin, and plastic
shopping carrier bags being used in the compostables bin.
The results of the Maximise Recycling Scheme to date have been
fantastic, however, there are still some mistakes being made.
Unfortunately, if these mistakes are not corrected, then we may
have to leave your bin uncollected as the facilities will not
accept vehicles which arrive with high levels of contamination in
their load.
Please do not dispose of any of the following in your
compostables bin:
- Bin liners of any kind
- Bags or liners which are not compostable
- Anything which can be recycled e.g.-glass, cans, plastic
- Food packaging of any kind
- Soil and turf
- Coal and coke ash
- Disposable nappies
- Cat, dog and other animal faeces
- Straw and hay
- Wood ash
- Wood shavings
- Rubble/hardcore
- Clinical waste
For further information on contamination, please follow the link
under Related Links to the Contamination page.
Please check the code of conduct on the Recycling home page for
information about presenting your bins.