What really happens to your food and garden recycling in Fife

Ever wondered what happens to the food and garden waste that you pop into your brown bin?

Ahead of Scottish Climate Week, which runs 29 Sep – 5 Oct 2025 and coincides with both Recycle Week 2025 (22 - 28 Sept) and the Fife Climate Festival (20 Sept – 19 Oct), Fife Council has released a video showing the journey that local food and garden waste (brown bin) recycling takes.  Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/H6uIWoU7PZU

Council staff empty a total of 3.2 million brown bins across Fife every year. Fifers already recycle 99,076 tonnes of food and garden waste each year, which is equivalent to the weight of 3,552 bin lorries.

Have you ever wondered where your garden and food recycling goes?

Food caddies are provided by Fife Council and the waste from these goes, along with garden waste, into the brown bin, which is collected and transported to a local anaerobic digestion (AD) facility, in Dunfermline. At the anaerobic digestion (AD) facility it’s transformed into renewable electricity for the national grid, heat for local buildings, and soil conditioner for Fife’s farmers. By recycling food waste, Fifers are helping cut landfill, generate green energy, and support local agriculture.

What food waste can be recycled?

All cooked and uncooked food waste—from potato peelings and banana skins to bones, egg shells and coffee grounds—can be recycled. Fifers should only put food and green garden waste only in the brown bin. Items like glass, foil, plastic pots, plastic bags, or food still in packaging contaminate the process and stop the compost being used on farms. Although some of the wrong material is manually removed at the AD facility, contamination can lead to the compost being regarded as a waste rather than a resource, resulting in disposal costs, as farmers can’t use it.

Ross Spalding, Fife Council Service Manager, Climate Change and Zero Waste, said: “From families making small daily changes, to businesses transforming how they work, to community groups creating local solutions – climate action is happening in every part of our country. Climate Week is a chance to celebrate these efforts and invites everyone to get involved. Together, our actions add up to create meaningful change for Scotland's future. By recycling food waste, Fifers are turning something that’s harmful to the environment into green energy and fertiliser that supports local crops."

Alexander Anderson, Fife Council Service Manager, Waste Operations, added: “Recycling food waste is a really good and easy way for Fifers to help the local economy and to make a local contribution towards easing a global problem.”

Local people can find out more about the 4-bin system and what goes into which bin on the Fife Council website www.fife.gov.uk/recycling

Bin collections and notifications

New - Sign up for Bin Notifications with Fife Council! 

It’s now even easier to know which bin to put out each week, by signing up for Bin Notifications with Fife Council! By registering and simply signing up with your email, you will get a handy email the day before collection with the bin colour due. You can cancel anytime with a quick link in your email.

Over 3,000 people have already signed up.

Register online here: https://www.fife.gov.uk/binreminders

• Bins should be placed on the kerb by 7am on collection day, and left out until 4.30pm, or until they've been emptied.
• If you're unsure of your collection dates, check the bin collection calendar and keep up to date.