Residents of North Lincolnshire will, as from the end of this month, no longer be able to put food waste in their brown recycling bins. This is due to recent changes to government guidance on the treatment of food waste from domestic kitchens. Changes to what you can recycle The guidance referred to has been issued by Defra, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and relates to the requirements of the Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR). These regulations were introduced to prevent another outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in cattle. The last outbreak was believed to be caused by inadequately treated food waste being fed to animals. To prevent a recurrence, all waste containing meat or other animal by products e.g. eggs, milk, etc., must be disposed of or treated in a controlled environment. Local councils, including North Lincolshire Council, composted this organic waste. The compost produced was then spread on agricultural land as an alternative to chemical fertilisers. The fear is that any animals that graze on the land may once again be exposed to Foot and Mouth disease. The guidance takes the view that even though fruit and vegetable wastes are not meat or meat products, they may have come into contact with such items within domestic or commercial kitchens and become cross contaminated. The changes take place from the 30th May 2011 and people will no longer be able to put fruit and vegetables, peelings, fruit cores, banana skins, tea bags, coffee grounds into the brown bin. They can, however, be composted at home or put into your general waste bin. The latest move could once again lead to calls from residents to re-introduce weekly collections of their general waste bins.