Turn food waste into Welsh power

This week marks the start of the annual Be Mighty Recycle campaign aimed at increasing food waste recycling.  

Did you know all food waste in Wales is turned into green energy? 

Last year, food waste recycling created enough renewable energy to power 10,400 Welsh homes.

But around 100,000 tonnes of food waste still end up in the general rubbish bin – enough to power an additional 7,500 homes.  

Over the next fortnight, Torfaen Council will be sharing social media tips about how to recycle food, plus facts and figures about how recycling food helps to reduce carbon emissions. Including... 

• 2 banana peels produces enough energy to charge a smart phone for a weekend. 
• One caddy of food waste produces enough energy to power a TV for two hours.
• 715 caddies would produce enough energy to light the Principality Stadium floodlights for an entire game.
• You can put any of the following into food recycling caddies: all uneaten food and plate scrapings; out-of-date or mouldy food; raw and cooked meat and fish, including bones; fruit and vegetables including raw and cooked vegetables and peelings; baked goods such as bread, cakes and pastries; dairy products, eggs and eggshells; used tea bags and coffee grounds; pet food; rice, pasta and beans. 

This year's campaign has been backed by celebrity chef and former Dirty Sanchez stunt performer Matthew Pritchard. 

Wales is the third best performing nation in the world for recycling and the Welsh Government’s Be Mighty Recycle campaign aims to help us take the top spot.

Councillor Mandy Owen, Executive Member for Environment, said: "Around 60 per cent of households in Torfaen already recycle food waste, which is great. But we need every household to recycle food waste if we are to meet the Welsh Government recycling target of 70 per cent recycled waste by 2025.

"We know some residents don't recycle food, either because they are not aware they can or because they are concerned about things like smells, rats or flies.

"The Be Mighty Recycle campaign is a great way of addressing some of these concerns so that more people feel happy to put their food waste into a recycling caddy, rather than in their general waste bins."

To find out more about the campaign, follow Torfaen Council on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and search for #BeMightyRecycle or #CutTheCarbonTorfaen.

Food waste is collected weekly in Torfaen. To find out more about how to recycle food waste, visit our website. 

You can collect green food caddies for your kitchen and larger brown caddies to leave out for collections - plus free food waste bin liners - from our customer contact centres. 

All caddies have lockable handles which reduce the risk of smell and infestations. You can use any plastic bags in food caddies, including food wrappers like bread bags.

Torfaen Council is reviewing its waste and recycling services and a report is due to be discussed by the Cleaner Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Thursday. You can read more here.