What goes in your bin, box or bag?

A guide for what you should put in your bins, boxes, caddies and bags

Food waste (bin and caddy)

The following items can go in the caddies: 

  • All cooked food
  • All raw food
  • Bones and carcasses
  • Leftovers from plates
  • Tea bags and coffee grounds
  • Fruit and vegetables, including peelings
  • Egg shells

We collect food waste every week from food waste bin and caddies at the same time as your other weekly recycling. The smaller brown caddy can be kept on a kitchen worktop and then emptied into the kerbside bin. You can order replacements with our online form or phone 01271 374776.

Ensure you wrap all food waste that goes into your caddy. You can line your caddy with newspaper, a sheet of kitchen roll or a bag (plastic, paper or compostable) and this will help contain the food waste.

All liners are mechanically separated from the food waste and are then recycled or converted into energy from a waste plant.

If you line your caddy with a bag, then why not reuse an old cereal or bread bag to give it a second use - you don't need to buy separate compostable liners for your caddy.

Do not put anything other than food waste in your caddy. Food waste in North Devon is processed by an Anaerobic Digestor and not composted.

Do not put wool from wool insulated packaging or any other packaging which says 'biodegradable' in your kerbside caddy, despite what it says on the packaging. Wool liner can be decomposed in a compost bin or dug into soil.

For information on composting, please visit Recycle Devon's website.