Make Your Food Go Further this Food Waste Action Week

Making a few simple changes to reduce the amount of food we waste at home can help to save money and protect the planet.

From 9th to 15th March 2026, Cheshire West and Chester Council is supporting Food Waste Action Week and encouraging all residents to recycle their unused food instead of throwing it away.

From 31st March, it will be the law for councils to collect food waste recycling from all households. The Council has been doing this weekly since 2012 but is working hard with our Council-owned waste collection company, Cheshire West Recycling (CWR), to make sure all homes have a brown food caddy.

Most unused food can be recycled, including bread, cakes, pastries, cheese, butter, eggs and their shells, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish including bones, rice, pasta, beans, tea bags, coffee grounds, uneaten pet food.

Recycled food waste becomes green energy, as well as fertiliser for use on farmland, which can support communities and help to tackle climate change.

It isn’t just the planet that benefits either. Recycling your food waste at home means cleaner bins, fewer smells, and can help people to save money by thinking more about how much food they need.

Food Waste Action Week is a national campaign developed by the Waste Resource Action Programme (WRAP) as part of Love Food Hate Waste to raise the profile of food wastage. This year’s theme, “Make Your Food Go Fuuuuuuuurther: for your pocket, for our planet”, focuses on preventing food waste by using up leftovers, and recycling anything that can’t be eaten, to unlock more value from the food we already have by helping it to stretch further.

WRAP estimates that 4.4 million tonnes of food is wasted every year from UK homes, worth around £17.5 billion. For an average UK family of four, that is around £1,000 wasted every year.

Cllr Karen Shore, Cabinet Member for Transport and Highways (including Waste), said:

“We are proud to be supporting Food Waste Action Week. Recycling food waste can make a positive impact on our environment by being used to create green energy. It also helps us to keep our kitchens and household bins cleaner and think about buying only the food we need to use. Many of us already recycle our food waste every week and I want to thank you for playing your part, but we know we can do so much more.

“Food waste shouldn’t go in the black bin. Soon we will be checking black bins before they are emptied to make sure they do not contain food waste or any other items that could have been recycled, otherwise we may not be able to empty them.

“Recycling your food waste is easy to do, just line your brown food caddy with a plastic liner, empty bread or freezer bags, paper towel or old newspaper, and drop it in. There is a small caddy for the kitchen and a bigger brown caddy to empty it into that you can put out alongside your bins every week for CWR crews to collect. Recycling has never been simpler.”

Most households already have a brown caddy, but if you don’t, you can order one for free at:

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/waste-and-recycling/your-bin-collection/order-new-or-replacement-bin 

...or call us on:

0300 123 7026

More information about food waste in Cheshire West and Chester can be found on the Council website:

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/waste-and-recycling/recycle-first/different-waste-and-materials/food-waste

Residents can visit the Love Food Hate Waste website for useful bespoke tips and guidance on how to avoid creating food waste:

https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/