Household Food Waste Liners
Case reference FOI2026/01220
Received 12 June 2026
Published 15 July 2026
Request
This is a request for information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Please provide the following information relating to liners used in your household food waste collection service:
1. Does the council recommend or require residents to use food waste liners in kitchen food caddies?
2. If yes, what types of liners are accepted?
• Compostable liners only
• Plastic liners
• Any liner type
• No liners accepted
3. Does the council supply food waste liners to residents?
• Yes
• No
4. If yes, please state the type supplied.
5. What treatment process is used for collected food waste?
• Anaerobic digestion
• In-vessel composting
• Other (please specify)
6. Are food waste liners removed from the food waste stream at any stage of the treatment process?
• Yes
• No
• Partially
• Information not held by the council
7. If liners are removed, please state:
a) which liner types are removed;
b) at what stage of the process they are removed; and
c) the final destination of the removed liners (e.g. energy recovery, landfill, recycling or other treatment process).
8. If the council's food waste is processed by a third-party contractor, please provide the name of the processing contractor and facility used.
9. Please provide a copy of, or web link to, the current guidance issued to residents regarding the use of food waste liners.
Response
Thank you for your request for information under the Environmental Information Regulations Act 2004.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
This is a request for information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Please provide the following information relating to liners used in your household food waste collection service:
1. Does the council recommend or require residents to use food waste liners in kitchen food caddies?
No, we do not specifically recommend or require residents to use food waste liners in their kitchen food caddies.
2. If yes, what types of liners are accepted?
• Compostable liners only
• Plastic liners
• Any liner type
• No liners accepted
This information can be found on our website – please see the bin guide which can be downloaded as a PDF from the following link:
https://www.guildford.gov.uk/whatgoesinmybins
3. Does the council supply food waste liners to residents?
• Yes
• No
No.
4. If yes, please state the type supplied.
N/A.
5. What treatment process is used for collected food waste?
• Anaerobic digestion
• In-vessel composting
• Other (please specify)
Anaerobic digestion.
6. Are food waste liners removed from the food waste stream at any stage of the treatment process?
• Yes
• No
• Partially
• Information not held by the council
Yes.
7. If liners are removed, please state:
a) which liner types are removed;
b) at what stage of the process they are removed; and
c) the final destination of the removed liners (e.g. energy recovery, landfill, recycling or other treatment process).
Information not held – we are the waste collection authority only. The waste disposal authority is Surrey County Council and you would need to contact them directly to query this particular part of your request.
8. If the council's food waste is processed by a third-party contractor, please provide the name of the processing contractor and facility used.
Surrey County Council, using the following facilities: Suez Eco Park, Biogen Westwood, Tamar Renewable Power Basingstoke, Biogen Bygrave.
9. Please provide a copy of, or web link to, the current guidance issued to residents regarding the use of food waste liners.
Please see the following website: https://www.guildford.gov.uk/whatgoesinmybins
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
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