Food waste
Reduce
Every year UK households waste 7 million tonnes of food, 5 million of which is edible. That’s enough to fill 40 million wheelie bins! Planning meals and only buying what you need can help to reduce food waste. Think about making a list before you go shopping or take a fridge ‘shelfie’ so you don’t buy what you already have. If you have bought too much, check the label and if suitable, store it in the freezer.
Reuse
Don’t let your leftovers go to waste, turn them into another tasty meal. For a few ideas for using leftovers, check out our recipe book (884 KB). For other ideas add what your left over ingredients are in the Love Food Hate Waste website to generate suggested recipes.
Recycle
You can recycle uncooked fruit and vegetables in your home compost as well as eggshells.
Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council offer a food waste collection service for its residents. For other Staffordshire councils food waste must go in the general waste bin. Check your local council for further information.
Do not place food waste in your dry recycling bin.
Dispose
If your council does not offer a food waste recycling service for food waste this should be disposed of in the general waste bin. All waste placed in your rubbish bin is taken to one of Staffordshire’s energy recovery plants.