Food recycling bins
Since 2023, we've provided separate weekly food waste collections for a limited number of households. Following the success of this limited 'pilot scheme', we're now providing food recycling bins to all Thurrock houses. By law, we must provide this service by 2025/26 with no households excluded.
There is no charge for this service.
If you were part of the original pilot scheme, your service will not change.
When you will get your food bin
We are delivering food bins across the borough from July 2024 – every house in Thurrock should have a food bin by the end of September 2024.
Once you receive your food recycling bin, you can put it out for collection the following week.
We also plan to provide food bins for all flats and sheltered housing in Thurrock. We will publish details of these plans after delivery of food bins to houses has been completed.
Everything you need for food recycling
Each household should receive:
- a grey food waste caddy to keep in the kitchen
- a one-off roll of compostable bags to put in the caddy as a liner for food waste
- a small green food recycling bin, into which you can put tied liner bags for us to collect
- a leaflet about food bins, which you can also download at the end of this page
We can only provide compostable bags while our stocks last – one roll per household.
Many people keep their caddy on a kitchen worktop or under the sink, or next to the kitchen bin. You can use your own caddy if you prefer one that fits better in your kitchen or is more stylish.
Food bin collections
You can start using your food caddy as soon as you receive it. When ready, tie-up your liner bags and put them in your food bin for us to collect. It's best to tie-up bags before they're full.
You can start putting out your food bin to be collected from the week after it's delivered.
Leave your food bin out with your other bins on your usual collection day every week.
You must make sure the lid of the bin is fully closed. Turn the bin's handle upright so it 'locks' the lid shut. We'll remove all the tied liner bags from inside and take them away for recycling.
Never leave bags of food waste outside your food recycling bin – we will not collect food waste left outside your food recycling bin.
If you do not have liners for your caddy, or your supply runs out, you can either:
- buy compostable bags from local shops
- use a non-compostable plastic bag, such as a bread bag
- fold your food waste carefully in newspaper
What you can recycle
You can recycle all types of solid food waste as long as you remove the packaging. This includes eggshells, bones and teabags.
You must not use your food recycling bin for:
- oil or liquid fat
- liquids such as milk
- packaging of any kind
- ordinary plastic bags such as carrier bags – only use the liner bags we provide
- anything else that's not food waste
We will not empty bins that contain the wrong types of waste.
Use our A to Z of waste and recyclable items to check what you can put in each of your bins.
Avoiding smells
As your kitchen caddy is smaller than your ordinary waste bin, you can empty it more often. This will help to avoid any unwanted smells in your home.
Using a liner and washing out your caddy regularly will also help prevent smells.
Preventing flies
You can prevent your food waste from attracting flies by:
- always putting it straight into the caddy and not leaving it out in the kitchen
- keeping the lid of your caddy fully closed when not in use
- tightly sealing your liner before putting it in your food recycling bin
- regularly washing your caddy
- keeping your food bin lid closed when it's not in use, with the handle upright to 'lock' it shut
It's most important to follow the advice above during hot weather. If you don't follow this advice and food waste is left in the open, it may attract flies that lay eggs and produce maggots.
What happens to your food waste
The food waste we collect gets broken down to create methane gas. This methane is stored and safely converted into a type of gas that can be used to make electricity, heat or transport fuels. Any remaining waste can be recycled as a fertiliser for crops or for land regeneration.
If food waste goes to landfill instead of being recycled, it rots and releases methane into the air. When methane is in the atmosphere it can be 2.5 times more harmful than carbon dioxide as a 'greenhouse' gas. As these gases build up, they can trap too much of the sun's heat and lead to dangerous climate change – go to GOV.UK: Climate change explained.
Further information
When we deliver food bins, we include a leaflet to help explain the service. If you would like a copy of this leaflet, you can download it below. We cannot provide more printed copies.
For advice on reducing food waste, go to Love Food Hate Waste.
You can re-use food waste by composting.
If your food recycling bin was put out for collection before 6am on your collection day but it is not collected and no explanation is given, you can report it the next day as a missed bin.