Food waste trial
Around 40% of rubbish put out for collection in Portsmouth is food waste.
We want to trial food waste collections in certain areas of the city to reduce the amount of waste sent for incineration, and to help make Portsmouth a greener city. You can learn more about food waste recycling on our dedicated food waste recycling page. There you will find some useful tips on reducing your food waste and making it go further.
We will notify residents chosen to take part in the trial by post. They will then receive two food waste caddies and an information leaflet explaining what to do. If your road isn’t included, you may still get to take part in the future as if the trial is successful, we will roll it out across the city.
The food waste is collected by a different crew on the same day as the rubbish collections and is sent for anaerobic digestion.
What to put in your food waste caddies
You can put all your food leftovers, raw and cooked, in the caddies:
- All uneaten food and plate scrapings
- Tea bags – biodegradable and non-biodegradable accepted
- Coffee grounds
- Out of date or mouldy food
- Raw and cooked meat, including bones
- Raw and cooked fish, including skin and bones
- Shellfish and seafood shells
- Dairy products such as cheese
- Eggs and egg shells
- Rice, pasta and beans
- Baked goods such as bread, cakes and pastries
- Fruit and vegetables, including raw and cooked vegetables and peelings
- Shredded paper – please remove windows in envelopes
- Cut flowers
- Pet food waste
Please do not put any of the following in the food caddies:
- Packaging of any kind
- Plastic bags
- Glass
- Liquids such as milk – these may leak causing spillages when transporting the food waste
- Cat litter/animal faeces
- Compostable cutlery or compostable packaging
- Garden waste – you can either compost garden waste at home/allotment or use the Green Waste Club service provided by Biffa
Collections
Food waste will be collected weekly, on the same day as your rubbish collection. Please make sure the larger caddy and your black bin/bags are out on the front boundary/on the pavement by 7am. The food waste will be collected by a different vehicle to the one collecting rubbish.
Please ensure the caddy is visible and not placed between the rubbish and recycling bins. The handle of the caddy should be straight up or fully forward as this locks the lid.
IMPORTANT – If the caddies are lined with plastic bags, then the caddy will not be emptied by the crew.
What happens to your food waste
The food waste collected from your home will be sent for anaerobic digestion (AD). AD is the process of organic matter being broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen.
AD produces biogas (mixture of methane and carbon dioxide) that can be used as a fuel source and nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as a fertiliser.
For more information on the process of anaerobic digestion visit The Official Information Portal on Anaerobic Digestion.
For more information on food waste recycling and ways you can reduce food waste, visit RecycleNow (food waste webpage).
About the caddies
We will be supplying the 5-litre caddy for indoor use and 23-litre caddy for the collection. Please contact us on 023 9284 1105 if you find you need a second 23-litre caddy.
During the trial, we will issue residents with one roll of fully compostable caddy liners free of charge. Using liners inside your caddy is not compulsory, however, it does help to keep the caddy clean. If you decide not to use liners and the caddy gets dirty, it can simply be rinsed out to clean it. If you run out you can either line your caddy with newspaper, or you can purchase compostable liners from most major supermarkets. Please make sure that any liners you purchase are fully compostable and display the Seedling logo, or state they are 100% compostable with the reference EN13432.