Your brown food waste bin
Recycle your food waste into energy to power people’s homes
Your brown food waste bin is collected every week. The food waste bin is collected on the same day as your green recycling bin one week and your black household waste bin the next.
Your food waste bin may be collected by a separate vehicle, at a different time (although on the same day) to your wheeled bin.
Use your small kitchen caddy to collect food waste each day and then transfer it into your larger brown food waste bin ready for collection. If you are taking part in the food waste for flats pilot, please transfer it to the communal bin provided.
The delivery time for a food waste bin or kitchen caddy is currently 10 working days. Food waste collection is not currently available for residents in flats with communal bins, unless you are taking part in the pilot.
What can you put in your food waste bin?
All your raw and cooked food waste leftovers including:
- Teabags and coffee grounds
- Fruit and vegetables
- Meat and bones
- Bread and pastries
- Fish
- Dairy
- Small amounts of shredded paper
- Cut flowers
What can’t you put in your food waste bin?
- Packaging
- Plastic bags
- Glass
- Cat litter/animal faeces
Wrapping your food waste
Please remember to line your kitchen caddy with newspaper or a compostable liner, as everything that goes into your food waste bin (including shredded paper) must be wrapped.
You can simply use a sheet or two of newspaper to wrap your food waste in or, if you prefer to use a compostable liners, you can purchase these from most major supermarkets.
Choose liners designed to fit a seven litre caddy and make sure that they are fully compostable. Look out for the seedlings logo.
Due to health and safety requirements, we are not able to collect food waste that is loose in the bin.
Why recycle your food waste?
By using a process called 'anaerobic digestion' we can turn food waste into renewable energy and a useful soil conditioner.
- Eastleigh's food waste will provide enough energy to power 214 homes each year
- Each lorry load of food waste will generate enough energy to power your fridge for up to four years
- A single caddy load of food waste can generate enough electricity to toast eight slices of bread
- Recycling just one tea bag a day for a month can produce the energy to make another five cups
- Soil conditioner produced from broken down food waste improves the soil in local outdoor spaces like parks, farms and gardens
Food waste that is put into your black household waste bin does not get recycled. Instead, it goes to be incinerated, wasting this valuable resource.
How can I reduce the amount of food waste I produce?
You can find information on how to reduce food waste on the Love Food, Hate Waste website.