Food Waste

Weekly food waste collections are coming to East Herts. If you haven't already, you will soon be receiving your kitchen caddie and kerbside caddy which you'll be able to use from Monday 4 August.

Food waste is collected weekly in your brown outdoor caddy. You can include:

all leftovers, including pet food and plate scrapings
dairy, cheese and eggs (including shells)
bread and pastries
pasta and rice
meat, bones and carcasses
tea bags and coffee grounds
fruit and vegetable peelings
fish bones and carcasses

For more information on what you can include in your caddy, including details of how to line your caddy see our food waste leaflet below.

Check your food waste collection day (currently unavailable)

Reduce food waste

Avoidable food waste is food that could have consumed or used for another purpose.

Examples of avoidable food waste found in purple-lidded bins include:

unopened bags of salad
partly used loaves of bread (including their packaging)
fruit and vegetable peelings
unopened food that had gone past its use by date

All of the above could have been placed in the food waste caddy. The packaging can be recycled, please view our A-Z for more information.

Join our Waste Warriors group

If you want to discuss recycling with other like-minded waste conscious groups or individuals, then you could join our Waste Warriors group on Facebook. It's a forum for sharing and encouraging engagement in waste reduction, recycling ideas and best practice. We also encourage members to share beyond the group, to spread recycling awareness among friends. With an already keen and active community taking part, we welcome more members to spread positive and thought-provoking content.

How to make the most of your food

More than 80% of food waste is avoidable. The main reasons for throwing away food are:

cooking or preparing too much
forgetting to freeze or chill food to use later
forgetting what food is in the cupboards

You can visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for new ideas and updates related to food waste.

Ideas for leftovers

Download the easy recipes below and make your leftovers into something tasty.

Watch this video from WasteAware, a partnership between Hertfordshire County Council and the county’s 10 district and borough councils. It aims to help residents reduce their food waste and save money through four simple steps: plan ahead, store correctly, cook what you need and recycle what you can’t eat.

There are more recipes available at Love Food Hate Waste.