Can you recycle food waste?

How to recycle food waste at home

Yes, food waste is recyclable. Most London boroughs provide a small caddy for your food waste.

Assess if the food you want to throw away can still be eaten.
Check the use-by date and any other signs.
Donate any food that can still be eaten. You can download the Olio app to donate your food to people in your area that may need it.
All London boroughs are provided with a food waste caddy and a compost bin for proper recycling.
Depending on the type of food you’re recycling, place it in either one of these bins.

Food waste has its own waste stream.

Place all food waste in your designated food bin.
Our transport team will arrange a suitable time to collect your food waste.
Your food waste will be transported to one of our trusted partners’ anaerobic digestion plan.
Your food will be broken down into high quality fertiliser.
This process simultaneously produces methane to generate energy.
The energy generated from your food waste is used to power London’s electricity grid.
The remaining energy generated is used to power our partners plants.

Dispose of leftover food waste into the food waste bin
Detach any removable or loose attachments i.e. packaging. This includes compostable and biodegradable packaging.

Put non-organic materials in the food waste bin. This includes compostable and biodegradable packaging.
Keep packaging on the food – this includes compostable packaging

Food waste is collected by our Euro 6 fleet

Bins are either replaced or cleaned to maintain hygiene

Your food waste is transported to an Anaerobic Digestion plant

Food waste is broken down into high-grade fertiliser

This process simultaneously produces bio-methane

If your business generates more than 5kg of food waste a day you will need to set up a separate food waste stream.
Roughly 1/3 of our total food production is wasted or lost.
The UK wastes over 9 million tonnes of food every year.
Food waste is actually a huge greenhouse emitter – If it were a country, it would be the 3rd largest greenhouse emitter after the U.S. and China.
Please note, that the ban on macerators was implemented in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland some time ago (Scotland in 2014). The next step in the process will be for us in England to follow suit in 2023 and implement other legislation within the act.

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