Food waste collections

Information for winter: Frozen garden and food waste in your green bin

The crews will try to empty frozen garden or food waste in your green bin / green caddy as much as possible. Any waste left will be collected on your next scheduled collection.

How does the food waste collection work?

1. Collect waste food in your silver indoor caddy (lined with a compostable bag). WARNING Please ensure food is cool before putting it into the silver caddy. Hot food may cause the bag to split, spilling the hot food onto anything underneath.
2. When the bag is full, tie it up and place it in your green bin (properties without a green bin can order a small green outdoor caddy. Please do not put your silver caddy out for collection). Be sure to change the bag every 3-4 days as the bag will start to deteriorate when in contact with organic waste.
3. Your green bin (or green outdoor caddy) will be emptied every two weeks throughout the year – there's no break for winter.

What food can I recycle?

Find out what types of food you can recycle

What if I run out of liners?

Between January and February 2013, you will receive a cardboard ‘re-order’ tag through your letter box. If you want more compostable caddy liners, please tie this tag around the handle of your green bin or kerbside caddy just before you put it out for your next scheduled collection. We will remove the tag you have attached and leave two new rolls of liners in its place.

These two rolls should last you another 8 months if you use them at the recommended rate of 3 bags per week. When these rolls run out we will not be delivering any more liners to your doorstep.

But don’t worry, there are still plenty of ways you can continue to recycle your food waste. You don’t need to use food liners at all; you can actually put food waste in your green bin loose or simply wrap your food waste in a sheet of newspaper.

If you prefer to use compostable liners, they can also be purchased at most supermarkets. When buying your own liners you must ensure the compostable logo is featured (see below). Please do not use any other type of bag as they don’t compost properly and we won’t be able to empty your bin. Even bags labelled biodegradable are not suitable.

Will food waste attract vermin or smell?

Provided the waste is contained within your green bin or green outdoor caddy and the lid kept shut, there should be no issues. The container is a sealed unit and has been designed to contain various types of food waste preventing leaks and minimising smells.

Householders can minimise smells by keeping food waste in the liners provided or wrap in newspaper before placing in the container. It is also recommended that you wash your caddy regularly (the indoor silver caddy is dishwasher safe).

Why are Wigan Council collecting food waste?

Did you know that households in this country throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food waste each year? Much of the waste in the black bin is made up of food waste. Because it is biodegradable, food waste releases harmful greenhouse gases if it is disposed of in landfill sites.

Recycling your food waste by putting it into your green bin will help to reduce the council's waste collection, treatment and disposal costs. It also helps us meet our recycling targets - 45% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.

What if I already compost at home?

We would encourage all households to continue using their home composter, however the food waste recycling scheme allows you to recycle cooked food waste, meat, fish and bones which may not be suitable for home composting.

To see how to use the new food waste collection service, please watch the video below: