Be green this Halloween by recycling your pumpkins

Households across Bridgend County Borough are being urged to be green this Halloween by recycling their used pumpkins as part of their weekly food waste collections.

Residents are asked to remove any candle wax, and then either place the pumpkins out whole next to the rest of their recycling, or chop them up into manageable pieces before putting them into the food recycling caddies.

All of the food waste that is collected from homes in Bridgend County Borough gets taken to the Agrivert anaerobic digestion plant in Stormy Down where it is transformed into electricity to power our homes and local communities.

It also produces a fertiliser which can be used in farming. On the other hand, if food waste ends up in landfill then it rots down and produces methane, a damaging greenhouse gas.

Recycling just one pumpkin shell could generate enough energy to charge a laptop three times, or power a TV for two hours!

We know that the majority of local residents are avid recyclers, so we’d like to let them know that their Halloween pumpkins can go out with their recycling rather than ending up in bin bags. It’s really easy to recycle food waste, and everything that you recycle helps the environment.

As Halloween grows in popularity, it’s a time of year that is generating frightening amounts of waste. But there are plenty of tips available on the Recycle for Wales website to help people reduce, re-use and recycle, including lots of tasty recipes to make the most of your pumpkins. Visit their website, www.recycleforwales.org.uk/food to find out more

Councillor Hywel Thomas, the Deputy Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council

Any Bridgend County Borough residents who don’t already have food recycling caddies can request them online at Kier's website, or by calling 01656 643643, or emailing recyclingandwaste@bridgend.gov.uk