Food waste collections

You may not be able to do home composting where you live, but it may still be possible to avoid putting food waste into your rubbish bin, from where it will go to landfill.

Some London boroughs offer schemes to collect kitchen food waste for composting. The collection will usually be separate from your normal recycling collection, but may be combined with green garden waste collection. Check our Where can I recycle? pages to see if your London borough has collections for food waste.

If your borough does offer this service they will provide you with a small lidded bin (for the kitchen) to collect your food scraps, and a larger storage bin, with a sealable lid (kept outside) to transfer the kitchen waste into ready for collection. Some boroughs allow you to use special BioBags, made from corn starch, to line your bin.

What can you put in your food waste bin?

• Fruit and vegetable peelings and scraps
• Tea bags and coffee grounds
• Egg boxes and egg shells
• Cut flowers

You should not put cooking oil or bones and carcasses in your food waste bin. Some boroughs, which use special enclosed composters, are able to take cooked and uncooked food waste, including meat, which cannot normally be composted safely. You should check with your borough to see exactly what can be taken.

By recycling your kitchen food waste you’ll be amazed at the reduction in your normal waste. However if you find you are throwing out food waste that could have been eaten, then it’s time to think about how you can reduce that waste and save money.