Food waste recycling

Weekly food waste recycling collections

We collect food waste for recycling every week from most homes in Aldershot and Farnborough.

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We are encouraging all residents to use our weekly food waste collection, so that we can recycle as much as possible and stop food waste from ending up in the green bins.

Your caddies

Kitchen caddy

You can use a small caddy or box to collect food waste in your kitchen. It is a good idea to line it so that it can be easily transferred to your outdoor caddy.

Outdoor caddy

Your black 23-litre caddy is to keep outside. This caddy is lockable to prevent pests getting into the food waste.

You should put it out for collection every week, where you normally put your bins. Please make sure that it can be clearly seen.

Marking your caddy with your house number and road name helps our crews, but also saves any mix-ups with your neighbours. You can buy low-cost address stickers for bins and caddies, or you can use any sort of labelling - reflective strips or numbers are good to make your caddy visible on dark mornings. Please also try to bring your caddy in as soon as possible after it's been emptied.

Caddy liners

Liners help to keep your caddy clean and reduce smells. They also help to protect against pests, such as flies, once the food waste is inside.

You can also use newspaper or any small plastic bag to line your caddy. You can buy caddy liners from most supermarkets for a few pounds, or you can use any plastic bag that you might otherwise be throwing away. Vegetable, bread or salad bags work well.

Please do not use biodegradable liners. All types of liners (plastic and biodegradable ones) have to be removed before the food waste is processed. Plastic liners are better for this because the food waste comes away from the material more cleanly.

What you can and can't put in your food waste caddy

Yes please

• Food scrapings and peelings
• Raw and cooked meat and fish
• Cheese
• Eggs
• Rice and pasta
• Bread
• Teabags and coffee grounds
• Fruit and veg
• Pet food

It doesn't matter if the food is mouldy or out-of-date - it can all go in your food caddy.

No thank you

• Packaging like pots, tubs and trays
• Liquids like cooking oil, milk, drinks, liquid fat or gravy

Tips for food recycling at home

Tips for keeping pests away from your caddy

• Keep your food waste wrapped up - we recommend that you reuse bags that you would otherwise be throwing away, such as bread or salad bags
• Keep your caddy closed and in the locked position. When the handle is upright or forward, it is locked
• Clean your caddy regularly, particularly after using it to dispose of meat or bones. A spray of white vinegar helps get rid of lingering smells
• Keep your caddy in a shed or garage between collections
• You can try hanging your caddy over a fence post, on a hook or on top of your other bins to keep it out of reach
• Line your caddy with newspaper, stale bread or kitchen roll to help absorb excess moisture

What happens to your food waste

We take your food waste to an anaerobic digestion facility, where the liners are removed and the food is broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen. A biogas is generated during the process which is used to create electricity and a digestate which is used as a nutrient-rich fertiliser.

Recycling and reducing your food waste

Around 70% of food wasted in the UK comes from households - which is more than six million tonnes of waste - so it's important we reduce our food waste as much as possible and compost or recycle the rest.

Saving food means saving money, but we also need to look at the bigger picture. Food waste is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, as it's not just the food we are wasting - it is the resources that have been used to produce the food too.

For more information about the impact of food waste on the planet and tips on how you reduce your food waste and save money, visit the Love Food Hate Waste and Action on food waste websites.