Food waste collection
Food waste is collected weekly. Every household has been issued with a 10-litre food waste container. The container has a locking handle to prevent spills and smells and protects the contents from vermin.
Your food waste container must be out at kerbside with the lid in the locked position by 7am on your collection day, but no earlier than the previous evening. Please ensure your food waste container is visible from the roadside. Make sure the position does not endanger other pavement or highway users. You can find out your collection day using the Refuse, recycling and garden waste calendar.
If you are unable to carry your food waste container to the front of your property you can arrange an assisted collection.
If you require an additional food waste container, please use the food waste container request form. We can supply up to 3 food waste containers per household.
If your food waste container is not collected please contact us using the details below. Please remember that collections may made any time up to 5pm on collection day.
Boost your soil with processed organic waste!
Processed organic waste collected in Gloucestershire, including the food and garden waste collected from Cotswold residents, is now being sold to the public as a soil improver. It is available from all County Household Recycling Facilities, including Fosse Cross, at a bargain price of £3.50 for a 40 litre sack. Experts have advised that the quality of the material is so good that it shouldn’t be used directly as compost, but rather as a conditioner to be dug in with existing soil.
Councillor David Fowles, Cabinet Member for the Environment at Cotswold District Council, said: “Cotswold residents have embraced every opportunity to safeguard the environment, as evidenced by their terrific recycling record. It is good to see that they can now enrich the soil in their gardens by purchasing their processed food and garden waste at a reduced rate. I anticipate sales will be very high because I know a lot of people have urged the County Council to make this happen.”
Gloucestershire County Council’s Fosse Cross Household Recycling Facility is located just off the A429 at Calmsden. It is open every day of the year except Christmas Day and New Years Day. For further details about Fosse Cross Household Recycling Centre, see http://www.recycleforgloucestershire.com/
What can be put in your food waste container
The food waste container can be used for all compostable food waste including:
YES PLEASE
- Food - Cooked and uncooked
- Raw and cooked fruit and vegetables
- Meat and fish, including bones and skin
- Cheese and other dairy products
- Eggs and egg shells
- Small amount of Liquids, oil and fat (including solid fats such as lard)
- Bread, cakes and pastry
- Rice, pasta, beans and cereal
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
- Newspaper or approved compostable liners
- Cat and dog food
- Animal hair
- Uneaten food from your plates and dishes
- Used kitchen roll and paper tissues
You cannot use the food waste container for:
NO THANKS
- Plastic (including plastic bags and non-approved compostable liners)
- Packaging of any kind
- Metal and glass
- Any other household waste
- Animal faeces
- Animal bedding
- Pet litter
- Pet carcasses
- Cardboard (please recycle in blue bags -see Recycling collection service)
- Nappies
Keeping your food waste container clean
Your food waste container is dishwasher proof but if you wish to line it you can either:
[image kitchen caddy with newspaper]
Use a small amount of newspaper
[image kitchen caddy with liner]
Use compostable liners.
To ensure that the newspaper or liner is taken along with the food waste, make sure that the newspaper is wrapped completely around the food waste or that the top of the compostable liner is tied up.
SITA staff will not remove a newspaper/liner which is stuck to the inside of a food waste container after it has been emptied.
Please do not wrap food waste in foil or plastic bags. This type of material will contaminate the composting process.
What happens to your food waste
It is taken to a nearby In Vessel Composter that is fully licensed to accept all types of food waste and is compliant with the Animal By-Product Regulations. These regulations are enforced by the Animal Health Division of the Government who ensure there are proper safeguards taken during the process. The composting process takes place over a minimum of 25 days in order to deal effectively with any pathogens (agents which cause disease) before the material is matured. The whole facility is designed and constructed in order to be safe and comply with strict regulations. This has been tried and tested successfully in many parts of the country.
Composting at home
If you already compost at home please do not stop. We would like to encourage you to carry on composting at home. However we are able to collect all meat, fish and bones using the food waste container, which are items you may not like to put in with your compost. For more information please see Composting your waste
Love Food Hate Waste
[image Love food hate waste logo]For every three bags of shopping we buy, one is thrown away, that's the result of research carried out by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) Did you know that up to a third of the food bought in the UK is thrown away?
As a result of this, the 'Love Food Hate Waste' Campaign has been set up to encourage us to think more about food waste.
To find out more, including leftover recipes from top chefs and portioning and shopping tips, visit the Love Food Hate Waste Website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/
CONTACTS
Waste Hotline
Cotswold District Council, Trinity Road, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1PX
Tel: 01285 623 123