Cold weather hack: How to prevent organic waste from freezing in your green bin
Whenever temperatures drop below freezing, it spells problems for bin rounds.
Organic waste - which is thrown in green bins in Greater Cambridge - can freeze, meaning it won’t empty properly when loaded onto a bin lorry.
Since crews cannot return to empty frozen bins, that means you could be stuck with a bin full of old food or garden waste for weeks.
But there are ways to prevent this happening.
Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council, which together run the Greater Cambridge Waste Service, have issued some tips:
- Wrap food waste in paper – newspaper will do, or you can buy paper liners
- Put a piece of cardboard at the bottom of the empty bin – do this in cold spells only, as normally cardboard should go in the blue bin
- Put your bin out at each collection, even if it is only half full – this reduces the likelihood that you will be left with a full bin if it freezes
- Place a small stick under the lid to prevent the lid from fully closing and becoming frozen shut
- If possible, place your bin in the sun during the day, or close to a wall
- Never compact the contents of the bin as this will increase the chances of it becoming stuck
If your bin has not been fully emptied because the contents are partially frozen and you need to dispose of extra rubbish or garden waste, you can take it to the recycling centres in Milton or Thriplow