Using the food waste boxes and liners
Each household is provided with two boxes. Both boxes are clearly labelled for food waste.
Small kitchen box (5 litre)
This can conveniently store and transfer food waste from the home into the larger storage box.
In your home, separate all of your food waste from any other waste such as plastics and packaging and put the food waste into the small kitchen box. This should be emptied into the larger storage box for collection. If you use liners for the kitchen box, there is no need to line your larger box.
You don't have to use the kitchen box provided by us. You can store the material in whatever you want in the kitchen as long as when you transfer the material to the large storage box for collection there is no contamination (i.e. plastic bags, glass etc).
Larger storage box (25 litre)
This should be kept outside and put out on your collection day. It has a lockable lid for protection against pests. The box is locked when the handle is standing up in the carrying position. When the handle is down you can open the lid.
Always put food waste out for collection in this storage box because this has a securable lid to protect it from animals.
Keeping your box clean and reducing smell
- Try not to put fluid in with the food.
- Store the box out of direct sunlight.
- Try lining the box. This can make the storage and transfer of waste food tidier and more convenient and can help control flies in the summer. You can choose between two kinds of liner, as follows:
Newspaper or paper bags as a degradable liner
Newspaper makes a great free compostable liner or wrapper. Either line your kitchen box with one sheet of newspaper or wrap food in a sheet of newspaper (like you do with fish and chips) and place in your storage box. This helps to keep the box cleaner and the newspaper will be composted with the food waste.
Uncoated or unlined paper bags can be used as compostable liners for boxes and do not have to be marked with the logos below.
Compostable starch liners
These liners are made of corn or potato starch. They resemble a plastic bag but will compost completely within 30 days in a commercial compost/digestion process.
When purchasing liners, ensure they are marked as conforming to composting standard EN13432. Liners that conform to this standard should display one of the logos below.
Suitable starch bags are usually marketed as compostable. Please be aware that some bags sold as biodegradable may not be made of starch, be compostable or compost fast enough. These will not be marked with the EN13432 standard or logos above.
Do not use plastic bags to line your box as they are not compostable.
Liner suppliers
Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Robert Dyas stock compostable starch liners that will fit the kitchen caddy. Sainsbury's and Waitrose stock paper liners.
Here are some companies that stock liners for either or both sizes of container. Please note that we do not endorse any particular supplier and other suppliers may be available.
Information on suppliers accurate as of June 2011.
If you supply liners and would like let us know, please contact us by emailing wasteandrecycling@richmond.gov.uk