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Why recycle your food waste? 

  • The weekly food waste collection means no smelly food sitting in your green bin
  • Keeps your kitchen bin cleaner
  • By reducing your food waste you can save up to £680 per year for the average household
  • The food waste bin is small and easy to keep clean
  • It’s better for the environment (see FAQ’s below) 
  • Your food waste bin reduces the amount of waste going into your green bin leaving more room for other rubbish
  • It's better value for money
  • It's easy and there are many fun ways you can reduce the food waste in your household, like the Freezer Clear Down Challenge
     

The Facts

In Bexley over 4500 tonnes of food waste is recycled from our food waste boxes. But we can do better!

  • A third of the material found in Bexley's general waste bins is food. Imagine what a difference we could make if more of us recycled our food waste!
  • The best thing we can do is eat our food, but there will always be some unavoidable food waste like:

    • banana skins
    • potato peelings
    • bones
    • tea bags
    • food scraps

    If you are new to recycling just start with a tea bag.  You can find out more on the brown bin page

  • Did you know our food waste caddies and boxes are free for Bexley residents?

    Get your own caddie or box

Your food is recycled into energy to power our homes. The more food that is recycled instead of being thrown away, the more energy we can generate!

Free Cookery lessons

Cookery lessons organised by the Bexley Eco Festival partners, CORY and London Borough of Bexley.

SessionDateTimeWhere
Cooking for Entertaining, relaxed cookery session for beginners and those wanting inspiration (adults)25 November 202410am to 12:30amHurst Community Centre, Hurst Road, Bexley DA5 3LH
 Get Ready for Christmas, Top tips and recipe ideas for the holiday season (adults)10 December 20246pm to 8pmLearning and Enterprise College Bexley, 5 Brampton Road, Bexleyheath, DA7 4EZ

Book now

Save money and reduce food waste - Try these 5 easy ways

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Tick checklist

1. Reduce food that we throw away by making a shopping list – check your fridge first or try online shopping (it avoids buying those unwanted items that tempt you as you shop)

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Sand timer

2. Know your dates – Use by is the safety date – you should not eat food after this date and should be found on foods such as some dairy, meat and fish products. Best before is a quality date

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Love Food Hate Waste logo

3. Use up those leftovers - Go to love food hate waste for creative recipes or many supermarkets also have recipes on their websites

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Measuring beaker

4. Cook the right amount – grab yourself a cup or beaker and measure out the foods that you eat most days such as rice, pasta and cereal – remember different pastas are larger than others!  Make a mark of where the food reaches and then use it as a scoop.

Adult amounts

  • Rice – 75g per person (eg 2 people would be a scoop for 150g)
  • Pasta – 100g per person
  • Cereal – 30g per person
  • Peas/cucumber/cherry tomatoes/peppers - 80g
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Kate from the full freezer

5. Store your food to keeps it at its best for longer.  

Freezing is your best friend – Remember to label your food with what it is inside, date and portion size. You can learn more by watching the Freezer Clear Down Challenge videos

Freezer Clear Down Challenge

Watch the videos by Kate Hall on how to start and top tips

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Kate Hall

Kate Hall
The Full Freezer

Bexley Eco Festival Food Waste Presentation

Listen to a one off session with Kate Hall at the Bexley Ecofestival. Learn how to freeze food or ‘press pause’, making it easier and quicker to cook healthy meals at home

Other ways that can help

Keeping your fridge at the right temperature

Did you know that the average UK fridge is set to 7 degrees? 

This is too high for most foods and will cause them to go off sooner. Dialing it down to 0 to 5°C has the potential to keep your food fresh for up to 3 extra days.

To find out how to adjust the temperature of your fridge, use the handy fridge thermometer tool.

Buy ‘stay fresher longer bags’

These bags help your food last longer, just wash them out and use again and again.

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Kitche app logo

Kitche App

This is a food waste prevention app. 
You input your food shop by scanning the receipt and the app sends you reminders to use the food you have bought. There are also thousands of recipes and hacks to give inspiration.

Download the free Kitche app available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store

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Olio App Logo

Olio App

This app connects neighbours, volunteers and local businesses so that surplus food can be given away for free instead of thrown away. Collection is free.


Download the Olio app available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store

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Too Good To Go Logo

Too Good To Go App

This app helps reduce food waste from retailers. Too Good To Go offers bundles for residents to buy at a greatly reduced price, as the food is close to its use-by date.

Download the free Too Good To Go app available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store

Donate to your local community fridge

There are 4 community fridges in the borough that accept and donate fresh food to the people who need it. 

The locations of the community fridges can be found on the care services website.

Home composting

You can home compost any uncooked vegetables/fruit (no meat/fish/dairy) and create your own compost to use in your garden.

Visit our A to Z of recycling for more top tips on certain foods waste that can be reduced such as bread.

FAQs

Can I wrap my food in paper?

Wrapping your food in paper is a good way to keep your bin clean to save you time.  Newspaper and other non-waxy paper is quick to biodegrade so is suitable to use.

Can I use starch bags?

Yes, the recycling facility will accept starch bags 

How do I stop my bin from smelling?

If you empty your bin regularly this should help to prevent any unwanted smells.  When the weather gets warmer you may want to empty it more frequently 

What do I do if I get maggots?

Remove the food material and tip it into a starch bag into your food box.  Clean out your caddy or food waste box with hot soapy water if possible.  Try to empty your bin more frequently in warmer months

I live in a flat and do not have food recycling facilities

We are currently installing food recycling at flats in the borough.  If your flat has not got food waste recycling yet please contact us at wasteteam@bexley.gov.uk

What happens to my food waste and where does it go?

Your food waste goes to Biogen in Hertfordshire. Here your food is converted into biogas through a process called anaerobic digestion.  This process uses organic matter such as animal or food waste and breaks it down to produce biogas and biofertiliser in the absence of oxygen in a sealed, oxygen-free tank. The nutrient rich biofertiliser is pasteurised to kill any pathogens and then stored in large covered tanks ready to be applied twice a year on farmland in place of fossil fuel derived fertilisers.

Learn more on the Biogen website

Why is it better for the environment?

During the recycling process bacteria break the food down into a biofertilizer and methane gas which is then used to generate electricity.

Every tonne of food waste recycled by anaerobic digestion as an alternative to landfill prevents between 0.5 and 1.0 tonne of CO2 entering the atmosphere, one of the many benefits of anaerobic digestion.

The foxes keep opening my bin and making a mess

Try to make your box less accessible, put something heavy on top of the lid.  

Why is it better value for money for the council?

Recycling food waste (which is a very heavy material) saves on disposal costs (the cost of incinerating waste from the green general waste bin).