Seemingly trivial things that annoy you

Pross

kingstongraham said:

You can use newspaper to wrap food going in the caddy as well, if you are having issues with juice etc causing the liner to degrade before it gets collected.

Knew there was a reason why people buy the Daily Mail

kingstongraham

rick_chasey said:

briantrumpet said:

veronese68 said:

Newspaper?
I think I remember them

It makes me realise how ahead of their time my parents were: all the stinky rubbish from the kitchen pedal bin would be emptied onto old newspapers (Daily Telegraph, natch) spread out on the kitchen floor, then would be bundled up and put into the dustbin. No plastic involved.

Paper isn't all that for decomposition.

I stumbled on a programme on bbc 4 on landfills and rubbish and because landfills are typically lacking in air, the paper doesn't really decompose.

They dug into an old landfill and pulled out a newspaper from the mid 80s; it was immaculate, save for the dirt. Could read the whole thing.

Food recycling doesn't go to landfill though.

pangolin

briantrumpet said:

veronese68 said:

Newspaper?
I think I remember them

It makes me realise how ahead of their time my parents were: all the stinky rubbish from the kitchen pedal bin would be emptied onto old newspapers (Daily Telegraph, natch) spread out on the kitchen floor, then would be bundled up and put into the dustbin. No plastic involved.

Did you have to regularly wash the kitchen bin?

briantrumpet

rick_chasey said:

briantrumpet said:

veronese68 said:

Newspaper?
I think I remember them

It makes me realise how ahead of their time my parents were: all the stinky rubbish from the kitchen pedal bin would be emptied onto old newspapers (Daily Telegraph, natch) spread out on the kitchen floor, then would be bundled up and put into the dustbin. No plastic involved.

Paper isn't all that for decomposition.

I stumbled on a programme on bbc 4 on landfills and rubbish and because landfills are typically lacking in air, the paper doesn't really decompose.

They dug into an old landfill and pulled out a newspaper from the mid 80s; it was immaculate, save for the dirt. Could read the whole thing.

Plus it always made the kitchen very stinky. There's a reason people use binbags, including me.

First.Aspect

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

You're supposed to put them in biodegradable liners. You would also need to ignore the large signs.

Aren't those biodegradable liners biodegradable over such a long period that it's pretty much a misnomer?

No.

Ah, this summarises what I was thinking of...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/do-biodegradable-plastic-bags-actually-biodegrade-180972074/

Depends where they end up. Anyone who has been there can pretty much confirm that Plymouth sound is anoxic.

That's a plastic bag not a caddy liner. As noted above, liners in closed caddies leak, because they degrade.

It's the same material.

Stevo_666

We compost as much of ours as we can. Local council doesn't do separate food waste collections.

briantrumpet

Stevo_666 said:

We compost as much of ours as we can. Local council doesn't do separate food waste collections.

Nor here, but I have tiny amount of food waste. Even so, I can't help wondering why communal composting bins aren't a thing.... surely much more efficient than a centralised system relying on motorised transport.

photonic69

Pross said:

kingstongraham said:

You can use newspaper to wrap food going in the caddy as well, if you are having issues with juice etc causing the liner to degrade before it gets collected.

Knew there was a reason why people buy the Daily Mail

We buy the Daily Mail so my wife can line the litter trays for the rabbits. They love to shit and piss all over pics of Boris, Trump and other dispicable (Tory) politicians. She always ensures that the pics are visible.
(The DM has the most pages per pence BTW)

kingstongraham

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

You're supposed to put them in biodegradable liners. You would also need to ignore the large signs.

Aren't those biodegradable liners biodegradable over such a long period that it's pretty much a misnomer?

No.

Ah, this summarises what I was thinking of...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/do-biodegradable-plastic-bags-actually-biodegrade-180972074/

Depends where they end up. Anyone who has been there can pretty much confirm that Plymouth sound is anoxic.

That's a plastic bag not a caddy liner. As noted above, liners in closed caddies leak, because they degrade.

It's the same material.

The ones from Sainsbury's are certified to EN 13432 which states they must biodegrade in an industrial composter by 90% in 6 months.

Munsford0

All our veg waste, and the occasional bits of paper, go in the compost bin in the garden. Keeping it nicely damp and stirring every few days it all disintegrates splendidly and we get free compost in a few months.

Smellier stuff like chicken carcasses and fish skins get wrapped in newspaper and go in the green waste bin with the chunkier, woody garden waste I no longer have the technology to shred. Collected every 2 weeks for composting by the council so can get a bit smelly this time of year. Yesterday's bin had a little parcel of 2 week old mackerel remains stuck in the bottom after they'd emptied it...

pblakeney

I read that coffee granules absorb smells so I ensure that my used coffee goes in the compost bin. Appears to be relatively effective. Not sure how well coffee granules compost though.

rick_chasey

Boiling water works well.

Stevo_666

briantrumpet said:

Stevo_666 said:

We compost as much of ours as we can. Local council doesn't do separate food waste collections.

Nor here, but I have tiny amount of food waste. Even so, I can't help wondering why communal composting bins aren't a thing.... surely much more efficient than a centralised system relying on motorised transport.

In our last place they did do green collections - got picked up att the same time as the general trash and non green recycling stuff etc. So if its all going to the same tip which has different sections sections different types of waste then I can see how that makes sense.

Stevo_666

Munsford0 said:

All our veg waste, and the occasional bits of paper, go in the compost bin in the garden. Keeping it nicely damp and stirring every few days it all disintegrates splendidly and we get free compost in a few months.

Smellier stuff like chicken carcasses and fish skins get wrapped in newspaper and go in the green waste bin with the chunkier, woody garden waste I no longer have the technology to shred. Collected every 2 weeks for composting by the council so can get a bit smelly this time of year. Yesterday's bin had a little parcel of 2 week old mackerel remains stuck in the bottom after they'd emptied it...

We get good compost as well out what we put in. Have even had the occasional grass snake take a shine to the compost heap, so it must be OK...

Our place doesn't accept food waste in the green (garden) waste. Luckily we have dogs.

First.Aspect

kingstongraham said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

You're supposed to put them in biodegradable liners. You would also need to ignore the large signs.

Aren't those biodegradable liners biodegradable over such a long period that it's pretty much a misnomer?

No.

Ah, this summarises what I was thinking of...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/do-biodegradable-plastic-bags-actually-biodegrade-180972074/

Depends where they end up. Anyone who has been there can pretty much confirm that Plymouth sound is anoxic.

That's a plastic bag not a caddy liner. As noted above, liners in closed caddies leak, because they degrade.

It's the same material.

The ones from Sainsbury's are certified to EN 13432 which states they must biodegrade in an industrial composter by 90% in 6 months.

Plymouth sound isn't compliant with en13432. Neither are a lot of composting waste disposal sites, I suspect.

rjsterry

briantrumpet said:

Stevo_666 said:

We compost as much of ours as we can. Local council doesn't do separate food waste collections.

Nor here, but I have tiny amount of food waste. Even so, I can't help wondering why communal composting bins aren't a thing.... surely much more efficient than a centralised system relying on motorised transport.

I think TBB has answered that: people can't be trusted to only put food waste in them.

Munsford0

The filmy fresh produce bags in Waitrose claim to be biodegradable but clearly not quickly enough in our garden bin so we've stopped trying. Same for tea bags at the moment. We used to compost them successfully till they started adding plastic to them, at which point we started finding their skeletal little plastic remains in the compost. Grr!

kingstongraham

First.Aspect said:

kingstongraham said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

First.Aspect said:

TheBigBean said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

You're supposed to put them in biodegradable liners. You would also need to ignore the large signs.

Aren't those biodegradable liners biodegradable over such a long period that it's pretty much a misnomer?

No.

Ah, this summarises what I was thinking of...

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/do-biodegradable-plastic-bags-actually-biodegrade-180972074/

Depends where they end up. Anyone who has been there can pretty much confirm that Plymouth sound is anoxic.

That's a plastic bag not a caddy liner. As noted above, liners in closed caddies leak, because they degrade.

It's the same material.

The ones from Sainsbury's are certified to EN 13432 which states they must biodegrade in an industrial composter by 90% in 6 months.

Plymouth sound isn't compliant with en13432. Neither are a lot of composting waste disposal sites, I suspect.

By Plymouth Sound do you mean the sea or something else?

surrey_commuter

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

rjsterry

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

If you put plastic bags into a collection bin that will be going into a digester, some poor sod is going to have to identify and fish them out again so that they don't clog everything up and break a £X00k worth of plant. There's no point separating out food waste and then wrapping it in non-biodegradable bags. Pinno I think is the expert on recycling sorting.

pangolin

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

If you put plastic bags into a collection bin that will be going into a digester, some poor sod is going to have to identify and fish them out again so that they don't clog everything up and break a £X00k worth of plant. There's no point separating out food waste and then wrapping it in non-biodegradable bags. Pinno I think is the expert on recycling sorting.

This is apparently exactly what they do in Bristol

Bristol’s food waste is collected by our recycling crews and taken to GENeco in Avonmouth. The plastic and compostable bags you use to line your caddy are removed and used to produce energy. The food waste is put into an ‘anaerobic digester’ – a bit of kit which acts like a giant stomach – and turned into methane-rich biogas. This biogas is used to generate more energy and the solid by-product of the anaerobic process is used as fertiliser for farms. In total, recycled food waste creates enough energy for around 6,500 homes in Bristol!

https://bristolwastecompany.co.uk/faq/food-waste-faqs/

surrey_commuter

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

If you put plastic bags into a collection bin that will be going into a digester, some poor sod is going to have to identify and fish them out again so that they don't clog everything up and break a £X00k worth of plant. There's no point separating out food waste and then wrapping it in non-biodegradable bags. Pinno I think is the expert on recycling sorting.

Quite the opposite

Plastic bags in food waste
the first thing that happens when your food waste gets to the recycling plant is the plastic bags are all dredged out. They're sent off for burning along with normal refuse to generate electricity. After that, the food waste can be recycled.

Why don't you recommend biodegradable food liners any more?
We used to ask you to use bio-liners to line your food waste caddy. But the food waste recycling companies found that bio-liner compost down much more slowly than the food. That slowed the recycling process down, and made it much more expensive.

They tried dredging the bio-liners out of the food waste, but the sticky bio-liners got tangled around the dredging equipment. Cleaning them off was very expensive.

So they found that using plastic bags was, overall, much more cost-effective. They're not recycled but good stuff still happens to them. And you can use old bags like bread-bags or carrier bags if you like.

rjsterry

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

If you put plastic bags into a collection bin that will be going into a digester, some poor sod is going to have to identify and fish them out again so that they don't clog everything up and break a £X00k worth of plant. There's no point separating out food waste and then wrapping it in non-biodegradable bags. Pinno I think is the expert on recycling sorting.

Quite the opposite

Plastic bags in food waste
the first thing that happens when your food waste gets to the recycling plant is the plastic bags are all dredged out. They're sent off for burning along with normal refuse to generate electricity. After that, the food waste can be recycled.

Why don't you recommend biodegradable food liners any more?
We used to ask you to use bio-liners to line your food waste caddy. But the food waste recycling companies found that bio-liner compost down much more slowly than the food. That slowed the recycling process down, and made it much more expensive.

They tried dredging the bio-liners out of the food waste, but the sticky bio-liners got tangled around the dredging equipment. Cleaning them off was very expensive.

So they found that using plastic bags was, overall, much more cost-effective. They're not recycled but good stuff still happens to them. And you can use old bags like bread-bags or carrier bags if you like.

I stand corrected. This has yet to make it's way to Sutton and we're still advised to use the biodegradable liners.

kingstongraham

Interesting stuff.

TheBigBean

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

If you put plastic bags into a collection bin that will be going into a digester, some poor sod is going to have to identify and fish them out again so that they don't clog everything up and break a £X00k worth of plant. There's no point separating out food waste and then wrapping it in non-biodegradable bags. Pinno I think is the expert on recycling sorting.

The first stage is a depackaging unit which takes all the foreign objects out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ict7VuZozqg

Nonetheless, the instructions on my one are clear and I would put more food waste in there if I could use plastic bags.

TheBigBean

Wrong thread, but the costs of AD are sufficiently high that it is only viable with subsidies that are no longer readily available or high power prices. The government in its wisdom is still happy to tax new AD plants at 70% just to ensure no one actually builds one at the moment.

monkimark

Unless I've missed a letter from the council, we've never been told about this but I just checked the Mole Valley website & sure enough, we can use plastic bags in the caddy.
You live and learn.
https://www.molevalley.gov.uk/home/bins-recycling/food-waste

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

rjsterry said:

surrey_commuter said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

TheBigBean said:

rjsterry said:

Food waste bins in this weather. Fine one day; seething with maggots the next.

I've given up on them which is a shame. Either they are open which gets flies everywhere or closed and then everything turns to water and leaks. Maybe I don't have enough waste.

Even better when they have a late collection for no obvious reason so your fetid little breeding ground is sat out front for a day and a half like some perverse sacrificial offering.

We have a communal food waste bin. Somehow people manage to put plastic bags in it and various other non food stuff. That's also annoying.

If I moved in I would do the same as where I live you put food waste in plastic bags in the food caddy

🤦🏻‍♂️

Just think that through.

you will have to explain how you are interpreting that

If you put plastic bags into a collection bin that will be going into a digester, some poor sod is going to have to identify and fish them out again so that they don't clog everything up and break a £X00k worth of plant. There's no point separating out food waste and then wrapping it in non-biodegradable bags. Pinno I think is the expert on recycling sorting.

Quite the opposite

Plastic bags in food waste
the first thing that happens when your food waste gets to the recycling plant is the plastic bags are all dredged out. They're sent off for burning along with normal refuse to generate electricity. After that, the food waste can be recycled.

Why don't you recommend biodegradable food liners any more?
We used to ask you to use bio-liners to line your food waste caddy. But the food waste recycling companies found that bio-liner compost down much more slowly than the food. That slowed the recycling process down, and made it much more expensive.

They tried dredging the bio-liners out of the food waste, but the sticky bio-liners got tangled around the dredging equipment. Cleaning them off was very expensive.

So they found that using plastic bags was, overall, much more cost-effective. They're not recycled but good stuff still happens to them. And you can use old bags like bread-bags or carrier bags if you like.

I stand corrected. This has yet to make it's way to Sutton and we're still advised to use the biodegradable liners.

pinno

briantrumpet said:

veronese68 said:

Newspaper?
I think I remember them

It makes me realise how ahead of their time my parents were: all the stinky rubbish from the kitchen pedal bin would be emptied onto old newspapers (Daily Telegraph, natch) spread out on the kitchen floor, then would be bundled up and put into the dustbin. No plastic involved.

...whereafter it ended up in landfill.

Tashman

Free compostable caddy liners
Lewes District Council are offering every household free compostable caddy liners for recycling food waste. If you are joining the food waste recycling service then your starter kit will already include a free roll of liners.

Line your caddy with a compostable liner or newspaper and fill it with food waste. Please do not use plastic bags, even bio-degradable ones do not compost.
When it is full tie the liner (or wrap up the newspaper) and put it in your own food bin or communal food bin. Please empty your caddy regularly.
Lock your outside bin by keeping the handle in an upright locked position. This will keep it secure from animals and birds. Please do not put loose food into the bin especially if you are using a communal food waste bin.
Put your food waste bin (with the handle in the upright locked position) out for collection by 6am with your normal rubbish.

https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/bins-waste-and-recycling/food-waste-scheme/

Still encouraged to use them here. Interesting how many differing approaches there are.

rick_chasey

Just chuck the food into the green bin, occasionally chuck some boiling water on it, and have it cleaned fairly often in the summer?