Recycle your food waste in Somerset

If you don’t recycle food waste yet, here is how easy it is

Step one

Line your food caddy with newspaper or a compostable bag.

Step two

Place all food waste in your kitchen caddy.

Step three

Once full, place in the brown food bin ready for your weekly recycling collection.

Yes please

All raw and cooked food can go in your food waste bin – just remove the packaging.

Raw and cooked food
Meat, fish, dairy and bones
Tea bags and coffee grounds
Pet food

No thanks

Flowers or garden waste
Pet waste
Liquids or cooking oils
Any packaging, including compostable containers

Why recycling food waste matters

We are encouraging everyone to recycle their food waste because it is better for the environment and cheaper for us to process.

Using the specially designed kitchen caddy can reduce smells, and it gets taken away more often.
Food waste get turned into something useful. It is used to generate electricity and fertiliser for farms.

Not recycling food waste yet?

You are not alone – and it is easier than you think. We collect it weekly, it does not smell when used properly, and we give you the right containers to get started. Order your free food waste bin now.

Pledge today - Small changes, big impact

Don’t wait, commit to recycling your food waste, join our food waste recycling revolution and you could win a year’s supply of caddy liners.

Make your pledge

Food waste and what happens to it

We know that some things aren’t normally eaten – like peel, cores, eggshells and bones. This food waste is known as unavoidable.

Food waste that could have been saved and eaten is known as avoidable food waste. This includes things like plate scrapings, food thrown out in its packaging and gone-off food.

Food that is collected from our food waste bins is sent to an anaerobic digestion facility near Bridgwater. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is like a stomach, it uses micro-organisms to break down food waste in the absence of oxygen, inside an enclosed system. The methane given off during this process is collected and converted to biogas and used to generate clean, green electricity, heat or transport fuels. It also creates nutrient-rich digestate used for fertiliser for agriculture.

Anaerobic digestion is not the same process as commercial composting, which is why compostable packaging is not accepted in your food waste collection.