If you’re lucky enough to still have your food waste recycled separately in the little green caddy, what then? Where does it go and what happens to it?
It may be something that you’d rather not think about, but if you’re interested, read on.
Once the waste food is collected it’s taken to an Anaerobic Digestion Plant where it’s sorted for contaminants such as plastic, paper or metal. It’s then left to decompose in an oxygen free environment and finally ends up as a rich organic fertilizer.
But if your council no longer provides the little green caddy and you’re concerned about your waste food going to landfill (you can read our last blog to find out more about it) then what can you do? Compost could be the answer.
If you have a garden or allotment composting could be a great idea for you, your plants, and the environment. But how do you go about it? and which foods are suitable? The list below should help.
- Fruits and vegetables including peel
- Bread, pizza crusts and other baked goods
- Pasta, oatmeal, and other grain-based products
- Crushed eggshells
- Coffee and coffee filters
- Tea and tea bags
Are all suitable for composting if you are using the correct system. There are two distinct systems for composting at home, Worm Composting where only raw food and paper can be used or Bokashi Composting where all the above can be included.
The Bokashi system can be used even on a small balcony. The principal is based around using a special inoculated bran which ferments the waste. Each time you put food waste into the container you just sprinkle a layer of the bran on top and this helps the waste to decompose. By using this system it’s possible to have almost zero food waste, and the added benefit of rich organic compost for your garden, which we at Freshbinz Ltd like the sound of because it fits with our ethos of always trying to do our best to protect the environment, so we think we might give Bokashi a try!