BinMate
Use your council’s food-waste service for the food scraps it accepts, following its liner and collection instructions. Do not assume a compostable label means packaging belongs in the caddy.
What can go in a food caddy?
Food collection commonly covers peelings, plate scrapings and unwanted cooked or uncooked food. Check your council’s list for bones, tea bags, shells and other items you are unsure about. Remove outer packaging first. Do not put a sealed packet of food into the caddy just because its contents are food.
Recycle Now’s food-waste guidance provides a starting point and local lookup. A food-waste collection can handle materials that are unsuitable for an ordinary home compost heap; the two processes are not interchangeable.
England’s collection changes
England’s Simpler Recycling requirements began on 31 March 2026, with transitional arrangements for some councils. The standard is a free weekly food-waste service. Do not interpret that as proof every address already has its containers. Check the council’s rollout notice if you are waiting. These England rules are not a statement of the arrangements across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Defra guidance.
The small kitchen caddy is for use indoors. Empty it into the collection container as needed; the council does not come into your kitchen to empty it. Check your calendar for the outdoor collection and communal-bin arrangements.
Which liners should I buy?
Check before buying a large pack. Councils may specify paper, particular compostable liners, reused bags or no liner. A logo or EN 13432 claim is not a guarantee that a bag is suitable for your local food-waste treatment process.
Use the council’s accepted liner, close it as instructed and keep ordinary packaging out. Do not assume “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “accepted in my caddy” mean the same thing. If the council’s page is unclear, ask the waste team for its liner specification.
What about liquids, oil and kitchen roll?
Avoid filling a caddy with loose liquids. Small food residues and quantities of cooking oil may have different instructions from a bottle of used oil. See cooking-oil disposal for the distinction.
Kitchen roll and food-soiled card depend on the local service. Follow an explicit accepted-items rule; do not infer acceptance from the fact that paper can rot. Cleaning wipes and chemically contaminated paper are a different material.
Keep the caddy usable
Close the lid, clear spills around the rim and empty the kitchen container regularly. Use an accepted liner if that helps contain scraps. Keep outdoor containers shut so flies cannot reach the contents. Our maggots guide covers prevention and cleaning.
Can bones and tea bags go in?
Check your council’s food-waste list for each. Do not transfer guidance for a council treatment facility directly to a home compost heap.
I have not received a food bin. What now?
Check the rollout page for your address and ask the council about delivery or communal facilities. Until the service is available, follow its current disposal instructions rather than leaving scraps beside another bin.
