Food waste

Can I recycle it?

You'll be able to soon. We're rolling a new household waste collection service out across Cornwall, area by area, from 2023 to 2025. which includes a new food waste recycling service.

We'll update your property information in the My Area section of our website when we're ready to introduce the new service in your area. You'll also get a Get Ready for New Waste Collections leaflet posted through your letterbox. You can read more about the changes on our New Waste Collections web pages.

Food waste is not currently collected as part of your recycling collection. 

Certain items of food waste can be added to your home composting bin. Otherwise, food waste should be disposed in your rubbish bin.

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Useful information

Your food does its job best when it's on a plate ready to be enjoyed. Saving food saves money and helps to slow down global warming and deforestation. Reducing the amount of food that ends up in the bin also means you can say goodbye to unnecessary packaging waste. If we all make a few small changes and start using up the food we buy, together we can make a big difference.

For more on food waste reduction visit: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Here are some steps to start or revive a compost bin:

1. Check to see if there is compost in the bottom of the bin. The easiest way to harvest the compost is to lift the whole bin up. Any existing compost can be used in flower beds or a vegetable patch. To use as planting compost sieve it first.
2. If there is dry un-composted material in the bin put it to one side.  
3. To stop vermin getting into the bin, buy wire mesh from a DIY store to go under the bin and up the sides to cover the hatch.
4. Position the compost bin in a sunny spot on bare soil.  This allows beneficial microbes and insects to gain access to the rotting material.  It also creates better aeration and drainage, both important to successful composting.
5. The best compost is made from a mixture of brown, carbon-rich waste like:

• autumn leaves
• cardboard
• egg boxes
• egg shell
• pruning's
• small branches
• pet bedding
• and green, nitrogen-rich waste, such as grass cuttings, weeds and vegetable peeling