Broadland food waste collections

We provide weekly food waste collections for households with individual or communal bins. Here’s how the scheme works and what you can recycle.

Properties with individual bins

All Broadland households with individual bins receive food waste collections. You should already have:

• a small indoor caddy
• a larger outdoor food waste bin

Free replacements are available for damaged, lost or stolen bins.

Collections

• Food waste is collected weekly alongside your rubbish or recycling bin.
• Put the outdoor bin (not the caddy) on the boundary of your property by 6:30am on your usual collection day and make sure it is visible.
• View your bin collections.

Liners

• We provide free liners. Alternatively, you can use any plastic bag or newspaper inside the caddy.
• To request more, tie a liner to the handle of your bin and the crew will leave replacements.

Properties sharing communal bins

If your communal bin store has enough space and is in a suitable location, you’ll be part of the scheme. You'll have:

• a red wheelie bin in the communal bin area
• an individual caddy for each household

Empty your caddy into the red bin for weekly collection.

If your property does not currently have a food waste collection and you feel it's suitable, please contact us and we will review the site.

What can you recycle in your food waste bin?

Why recycle food waste

Recycling your food waste is better for the environment. Rotting food generates methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) and contributes to global warming and climate change.

When recycled, food waste can be turned into something useful. Your food waste will be taken to a special processing plant in the UK where it is used to generate electricity and fertiliser which can be used in farming. If every household in Broadland recycled their food waste, we could save up to 386 tonnes of CO2eq being released in the atmosphere each year!

Additionally, your rubbish bin will be cleaner, less smelly and less full.

How your food waste is recycled

Your food waste is broken down in sealed tanks by a process called anaerobic digestion, which create a natural biogas to be used as a fuel in a combined heat and power generation unit to generate renewable energy. The leftovers form a nutrient rich bio-fertiliser which is applied to farmland twice a year.

Why we’re using plastic liners

Following feedback from residents and our food waste processor, we’ve switched from compostable liners to plastic liners to make food waste disposal cleaner and simpler for residents, and to improve efficiency.

Benefits of plastic liners:

• Cost-effective: Cheaper than compostable alternative.
• Durable: Less likely to tear or leak.
• Environmental considerations: Compostable liners don’t break down effectively in anaerobic digestion and are removed before processing. All liners are sent to an energy-from-waste facility to generate electricity. Our new liners are made from 30% recycled plastic, reducing environmental impact.

FAQs

Have an issue?

Below are the most common food waste issues. For other problems, visit the bin collection issues page.

• Missed bin
• I require liners as none were left after my previous request (liner tied to handle)

• Lost, found, stolen and damaged bins
• Bin not returned correctly

Still have a question?

If you can't find the answer here or on linked pages, please fill in the form below.