Food Waste Recycling

What is it?

Approximately one third of the general waste bin comprises food waste.  This service will seek to remove this waste from the general waste bin.

The following food waste will be collected;

• Dairy
• Meat and bones
• Fruit
• Vegetables
• Bread, cakes and pastries
• Rice and pasta
• Fish
• Tea bags and coffee grounds

What should not be placed in the food waste bin?

Please do not place the following items into your food waste bin:

• General waste
• Food packaging
• Oils
• Liquids
• Pet Litter/Animal bedding

How can I reduce my food waste?

For hints and tips on how to reduce food waste, please visit the Love Food, Hate Waste website.

The free LFHW app allows you to easily keep track of food planning, shopping, cooking meals and making the most of leftovers. It also has lots of great recipe ideas and tips for using forgotten foods and leftovers to make great tasting meals.

Where can I get replacement food waste liners?

Replacement liners are not provided by the council. Additional compostable liners can be purchased from the main supermarkets and discount stores (usually found within the aisle with other bin liners). Many on-line retailers also sell compostable liners and can be found using an internet search engine. The size of the kitchen caddy provided to all households is 5 litres.

Where can I obtain a food waste caddy?

Food waste caddies are currently not available for collection from the council offices at this time. 

Food waste collection for houses

Residents within houses and four-in-a-block, that are part of the managed weekly collection service and present their bins on the kerbside, can place food waste into the brown bin.  This bin also collects garden waste and is collected every two weeks, 12 months of the year.

Please see attached film for further information on the food waste collection service from houses.

Food waste collection from flats and tenements

New service arrangements have been introduced across the city, which seeks to address persistent issues of contamination of food waste bins with other kinds of waste and also address access and risk problems for our collection teams.

The new service was successfully trialled in North West Glasgow in August, 2020 and has since been introduced in North East Glasgow in December, 2020 and South Glasgow in February 2021.

As part of the arrangement, an enhanced network of publicly-sited food waste bins has been created for residents at addresses where access or contamination has been an issue. Bin contamination prevents any food waste from recycled and forces it to be treated as general waste, which is a much more costly process for the council.

Food waste collection from multi-storey premises

Residents within multi-storey premises are provided a large 500 litre grey bin.  This will predominantly be located adjacent to the existing recycling bins around the curtilage of the building.  One 500 litre bin is provided per block and the bin is serviced weekly.

Please see attached film for further information on the food waste collection service from multi-storey premises.