Food waste

From Autumn 2025 we will be expanding our food waste recycling collection services to more household properties so more of our residents can recycle food waste. We will be writing to the properties due to receive a food waste service.

We will provide you with:

• A kitchen caddy
• A roll of liners to line the caddy
• A communal food waste bin in your binstore or bag cupboard

How to get started

It’s easy to recycle your food waste, simply follow the steps below:

1. Put a liner in your kitchen caddy then put your food waste in it
2. When nearly full, remove the liner, tie the top and put it in the communal food waste bin or caddy you will find in your binstore or bagstore
3. We will collect your communal food waste bin up to 3 times per week

Using your food waste service is easy - simply empty any food waste you have, such as plate scrapings, peelings and tea bags into the kitchen caddy. When your compostable liner is nearly full, tie your liner and place it in the communal food bin you will find in your binstore or bag store.

We provide food waste caddies and compostable liners to recycle all cooked and uncooked food waste, including:

• Cooked leftovers
• Fruit/vegetables and peelings
• Meat and bones
• Dairy products
• Eggs
• Fish and fish bones
• Bread and pastries
• Tea and coffee grounds
• Beans, lentils and grains

Please do not place any packaging or other items into your food waste caddies, including items which state they are compostable or bio-degradable such as bags, sponges, cups and other items. Place these items in your general waste.

And remember:

• Use the compostable liners provided, or you can also use newspaper instead. Do not use plastic bags
• A sheet of kitchen roll on the base of the caddy will absorb any moisture
• Remove all the packaging from the food before putting it in the caddy
• Don't put liquid, oil or liquid fat in the caddy, this can make a mess and increase the chance of it smelling
• Emptying your caddy regularly will help avoid unwanted smells

Contact the City if you would like to order more compostable liners or a food waste caddy.

There are two main reasons why we throw away good food, we prepare or cook too much or we don't use it in time. Love Food Hate Waste has advice on storage, portions, planning and recipes to help use leftovers to reduce food waste and save money.

"You could save yourself up to £60 a month by reducing the amount of food you throw away*."

You can also reduce food waste and save costs with the Eat Like a Londoner campaign. This initiative offers practical tips and strategies to help you manage food more efficiently, benefiting both your household and our environment.

Most people produce food waste, whether it is unavoidable such as egg shells, bones and banana skins or avoidable such as brown bananas, uneaten leftovers and mouldy bread. The average rubbish bin is around 30% food waste.

UK households waste 6.5 million tonnes of food every year!

Households account for 70% of food waste in the UK. The rest is from producers, factories, supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses.

Have a look at your food isn't rubbish to see the benefits of reducing food waste and how it can save you money.

You can also access food more sustainably - apps such as Olio, Kitche and Too Good To Go encourage food sharing by offering free or discounted food to avoid it ending up wasted.

*According to Love Food Hate Waste

Remember there is no amount too small. The best thing we can do with our food is enjoy it but some waste like banana skins, tea bags and bones are unavoidable and can all be recycled.

Your household bin will be cleaner and less full as we will provide you with a service to recycle your food waste.

The new food recycling service gives you the opportunity to recycle more.

Food waste that is recycled also has many uses. It can be converted into fertilisers for agriculture or converted into natural forms of energy which are a good alternative to fossil fuels.

As food waste is 70% water, putting food waste into your general waste bin and sending this for incineration requires more energy to burn so recycling is a more efficient method of disposal.

A lot of people find that keeping it under the sink, next to the kitchen bin or on the work top is practical. Remember you can use your own container if you prefer something more stylish or it fits better in your kitchen.

Throwing out food is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Wasting food wastes all the resources needed for its production such as water, land, energy and labour. We can all help reduce our CO₂ emissions by being more conscious of not wasting food.

Habits can be hard to change. The wasting food: its out of date website shows us that if each of us made a small change to the way we buy food, use food and the amount we waste, we would all have a big impact on the planet's future.

More than 25% of the waste in an average waste bin is food. When recycled, food waste can be turned into something useful. Your food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion facility where it is used to generate natural forms of energy, such as biogas, an excellent alternative to fossil fuels and a fertiliser which can be used in farming. 

This process uses microorganisms to break down food waste in the absence of oxygen, inside an enclosed system. As it breaks down it gives off methane, which is collected and converted into biogas and used to generate electricity, heat or transport fuels. It also creates a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as a fertiliser for agriculture and in land regeneration.

It’s easy – all you need to do is follow the instructions on this webpage and simply put your food waste into your caddy then take to your food bin. It’s important to reduce the amount of food waste going to incineration as it can produce a useful product to go back into food production and is better for the environment. 

Not if you empty your kitchen caddy regularly into the communal food waste bin and tie up the liners. Your caddy has a sealable and lockable lid which will stop smells getting out.