Recycle your pumpkins
Published
Wednesday 30 October, 2024
Updated
Wednesday 30 October, 2024
Residents can pick, carve and then recycle their pumpkin this Halloween thanks to Swale Borough Council’s pumpkin recycling scheme.
Special pumpkin recycling sites will once again be set up across the borough for locals to dispose of their Halloween jack-o-lanterns, and to help reduce the amount of waste being incinerated.
Dedicated pumpkin wheelie bins will be located in Central car park in Faversham, Rose Street car park in Sheerness and Central Avenue car park in Sittingbourne from Friday 1 November until Friday 8 November.
The pumpkins will be collected by our waste contractor Suez and taken to the Countrystyle composting facility in Ridham to be turned into soil conditioner for local farmers.
Pumpkins can also be cut up and placed inside your black and orange food waste bin, to be collected on your collection day.
Cllr Rich Lehmann, chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee, said:
“Pumpkin carving is an important part of Halloween to many and can be fun for the whole family, but where do all the pumpkins end up once we’ve had our fun?
“We have teamed up with a local composting facility to make sure these pumpkins don’t end up being burnt with the general waste and can instead have a second life as soil conditioner, helping our farmers produce the food we eat.
“Of course, we encourage everyone to use their food waste bins – with that food waste heading off to a local anaerobic digestion plant which produces electricity and organic fertilizers - but it may not fit all your pumpkins.
“So, help us keep the borough clean and reuse waste by dropping off your pumpkins this Halloween into our recycling scheme.”
Find out more about food waste recycling in Swale on the council’s waste campaign page.
The pumpkin recycling sites will be in:
· Central Car Park, Leslie Smith Dr, Faversham ME13 8PW
· Central Avenue Car Park, Central Ave, Sittingbourne ME10 9GY
· Rose Street Car Park, Rose St, Sheerness ME12 1AJ
The bins are checked every day, but if residents find they are full, please contact the council on 01795 417888 so the bins can be replaced.
