WAVERLEY Borough Council has launched a new campaign to encourage residents to recycle more food waste.

The council has teamed up with Recycle Now and Surrey County Council to deliver a free roll of caddy liners and a recycling guide to every household in the borough over the next four weeks.

Last year Waverley recycled 2,613 tonnes of food waste but the council believes it can recycle even more banana skins, tea bags and peelings.

Jim Edwards, portfolio holder for environment at Waverley Borough Council, said: “Here’s some food for thought; your food waste recycling helps us to generate electricity to power our homes and the local community.

“When we empty your food waste caddy, we take the waste to a recycling plant where it goes through a process called anaerobic digestion to make fuel and fertiliser.

“One of Waverley’s core priorities is to protect and enhance the environment we live in. We’re committed to doing all we can to help achieve this and we want to get all our residents on board too.

“Recycling just six tea bags could produce enough electricity to boil the kettle for another cuppa.

“So next time you’re making a brew or scraping your plate after dinner, remember to put your food waste in your caddy and not into your refuse bin or blue recycling bin. It’s these small, easy changes that make all the difference.”

The following items can be put in your food waste caddy to be recycled:

• Plate scrapings.

• Uneaten food which you can’t use up.

• Mouldy or out of date food – remember to remove all the packaging.

• Peelings and banana skins.

• Tea bags and coffee grounds.

• Bread and pastries.

• Dairy products such as cheese.

• Egg shells.

• Rice, pasta and beans.

• Meat, fish and bones (raw and cooked).

You can’t put any packaging, liquids - such as milk or oil, or any material that isn’t food waste in your caddy liner.

Households should have a grey caddy and a green recycling caddy to recycle food waste.

Residents can use the smaller grey caddy in their kitchen. Simply line the caddy with a liner or plastic bag, fill it with food waste and, when it’s full, tie up the bag and put it in your green caddy outside. Then leave your green caddy out for collection each week on your normal collection day.

The green caddy locks to keep out animals.

Mr Edwards added: “It’s all about finding the right way to make food waste recycling work for you and your family.

“If you’d rather put your food waste outside into the green bin straight away, then that’s fine. Or if you’d rather use a different container or pot to hold your food waste in your kitchen please go ahead.

“Using plastic bags and liners also helps to keep your caddy clean and stops any bad smells.

“We’d love to hear how you recycle your food waste – if you have any top tips make sure you let us know by tweeting us @Waver

leyBC or posting on our Facebook page Your Waverley.”

If you don’t have a green or grey food waste caddy, you can order one for free by going to: www.waverley.gov.uk/newbin.

To find out more about food waste recycling in Waverley visit the website www.waverley.gov.uk/foodwaste.