Looking after your brown bin

Because waste that is put in your brown bin is organic it is helpful to take precautions to prevent maggots and flies, particularly in warm weather.

The following tips will help:

• Wrap food waste (particularly meat and bones) securely in newspaper
• Put your food waste in our approved biodegradable bags. These are on sale at libraries and the Civic Centre at £4.50 for a roll of 50
• Prevent flies from landing on the food before it is wrapped. If they lay eggs before the food is wrapped, then maggots will develop
• Close the lid securely and keep the bin out of direct sunlight
• Wash your bin regularly after it has been emptied. Boiling water and a fragranced cleaning product will kill any eggs and help keep flies away
• If maggots do occur poor boiling water over them

Supermarket bags
Some supermarkets provide plastic bags that are labelled as

• 'degradable'
• 'compostable'
• 'recyclable'

Please note that these are NOT suitable for council wheelie bins. To be sure you use suitable bags, use the ones provided at the Civic Centre.