Food waste
UK households still waste 4.5m tonnes of food a year that could have been eaten, worth £14bn. This amounts to £700 for an average family with children! That's why it is important to plan your shopping and meals to reduce domestic food waste, here are some useful tips on how to do so: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/portion-planner.
To reduce the amount of food you waste, why not install a food waste disposer (FWD)? It is designed to fit under your kitchen sink, and it can:
Why is it important to recycle food?
This short video from our partners, Sustainable Merton, explains the importance of recycling food.
UK households still waste 4.5m tonnes of food a year that could have been eaten, worth £14bn. This amounts to £700 for an average family with children! That's why it is important to plan your shopping and meals to reduce domestic food waste, here are some useful tips on how to do so: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/portion-planner.
To reduce the amount of food you waste, why not install a food waste disposer (FWD)? It is designed to fit under your kitchen sink, and it can:
- Help you get rid of food waste immediately and without leaving the kitchen.
- Grind all food waste (including bones)
Why is it important to recycle food?
This short video from our partners, Sustainable Merton, explains the importance of recycling food.
How does food recycling work?
See the video below for an explanation of how food waste is recycled by Merton Council.
See the video below for an explanation of how food waste is recycled by Merton Council.
Food waste in merton
Merton Council collects food waste on a weekly basis. You will need to put your food waste in compostable food waste caddy liners:
- You can buy 7-litre kitchen caddy liners in Merton libraries, at £2.50 for a roll of 25 bags
- Caddy liners are also available in supermarkets and shops
- You can also use newspaper instead of compostable liners to line your caddy and dispose of the newspaper the same way as your food waste
FOOD WASTE IN WANDSWORTH
Wandsworth Council doesn’t currently collect food waste, but there are many benefits of food recycling. If your food waste goes to landfill it will produce a lot of methane – a very harmful greenhouse gas, to help protect the environment you can set up your own compost if you have a garden.
Recycle Now can instruct you on how to set up your own compost in your garden here.
Here is an example of a home composter.
Recycle Now can instruct you on how to set up your own compost in your garden here.
Here is an example of a home composter.
FOOD WASTE IN RICHMOND-UPON-THAMES
From the Richmond Council website
“We provide a free weekly food waste recycling collection service for houses and are now running a trial food waste collections for selected flats. If you don’t already have them and your property is eligible, please request your free food waste boxes and find out how to use them.”
“We provide a free weekly food waste recycling collection service for houses and are now running a trial food waste collections for selected flats. If you don’t already have them and your property is eligible, please request your free food waste boxes and find out how to use them.”
More tips:
- In Waitrose (in bigger shops) bulky items can be packed in free compostable bags, try to shop this way as much as you can and then compost your bags, or always bring your own fruit bag to reduce waste
- You can help restaurants and shops to reduce food waste, using the Too Good To Go app, which offers discounted food that wasn’t sold during the day, to download click here
- OLIO is another app where you can share unused food and items that you will not use before their expiration date. Read more here.
