Introduction

Your leftovers can make a real difference.

Putting food in your brown bin means it’s turned into nutrient-rich compost instead of being burned when put in your green bin.

Every peel, crust and scrap you recycle cuts emissions and avoids waste.

Small action, big impact - it starts in your kitchen.

Your green bin isn't for food waste

Many people think it doesn’t matter if food goes in the green bin, because our general waste isn’t sent to landfill - it’s burned to make energy.

But burning food waste still has environmental downsides. Here’s why we’re asking everyone to put food in their brown bin instead:

What you can put in your brown bin

Your brown bin is for food and garden waste. You can put cooked and uncooked food in it, including:

• 🥕 Fruit and vegetable peelings
• 🍽️ Plate scrapings and leftovers
• 🥩 Meat, fish and bones
• 🥚 Eggs and eggshells
• 🥛 Dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese
• 🍞 Bread, cakes and pastries
• 🧈 Solid fats such as butter and lard
• 🍵 Tea bags and coffee grounds.

What shouldn't go in your brown bin?

Keep plastic and other packaging out of your brown bin. This includes:

• ❌ Plastic bags and food packaging
• ❌ Plastic pots, trays and containers
• ❌ Plant pots
• ❌ General household waste
• ❌ Dead wildlife

If packaging can be recycled, put it in your blue bin. If it can't be recycled, put it in your green bin.

Not sure where something goes? Find out which bin to use before you throw it away!

Packaged food? Separate it first

If food has gone off or can't be eaten, take it out of its packaging and put the food in your brown bin.

For example:

• Yoghurt past its best?

  Empty the yoghurt into your brown bin and put the rinsed, empty pot in your blue bin if it can be recycled.

• Ready meal left over?

  Put the food in your brown bin and separate the tray or packaging for recycling where possible.

• Bag of salad gone off?

  Empty the salad into your brown bin and put the packaging in the right bin.

Think before you bin it

Around 20% of material placed in East Riding green bins is food waste, equivalent to around 10,300 tonnes every year. Much of this food is thrown away still in its packaging, preventing the food from being recycled correctly.

By making this simple change, you can help recycle more food waste, reduce contamination and ensure more recyclable packaging is recovered.

Not sure where something goes? Find out which bin to use before you throw it away!

Put food waste in your brown bin

When we collect your food waste in your brown bin, along with your garden waste, we take it to a local composting site.

It is turned into compost, which is then used:

• to improve soil on farmland
• for local environmental projects
• for our free compost giveaway events for residents.

When we compost food waste:

• carbon and nutrients are returned to the soil
• healthier soil helps grow crops and plants
• we create a useful product from waste
• we reduce overall emissions.

Your food scraps then become a valuable resource, not just burned with the rest of the green bin waste.

You can also make your own compost at home!

Start recycling your food waste now!

It’s easy to recycle your food waste. You can either:

• Let the council recycle it for you - collect it in a kitchen caddy, then put it in your brown bin. We will then recycle it into compost.
• Compost at home - lots of your food waste can be composted at home to create nutrient-rich soil for your garden.

To make brown bin recycling even easier, we’re going to be collecting your brown bin weekly.

Why wait until the weekly collection though? You can start now and help make a difference to your environment.

Read about the weekly brown bin collection