Tea bag ban over foot-and-mouth

Kitchen waste is no longer allowed in Cardiff's green wheelie bins

Householders have been told not to throw tea bags in waste meant for compost because it is a foot-and-mouth risk.

Cardiff council said European regulations meant tea bags or vegetable peelings could not go in bins used to collect "green" waste.

The rules, which affect all local councils, say kitchen waste is a danger because it may be in contact with meat.

The bins' contents are composted and sold to the public.

Until now, users have been able to include materials such as coffee filters and vegetable peelings.

We have to uphold the law and we have been informing residents that, by law, we cannot compost kitchen waste Cardiff council

But the authority is set to enforce EU laws designed to prevent a further outbreak of foot-and-mouth by excluding materials which may have been in contact with meat or milk.

It is sending leaflets and a reminder card to homes in seven areas of the city.

Other materials which it said it did not want people to place in the bins were fish, fruit and food leftovers.

Viruses

A council spokesman said: "In hindsight, it could be argued that we should have been telling people not to compost these materials from the beginning. Many authorities overlooked it.

"We have to uphold the law and we have been informing residents that, by law, we cannot compost kitchen waste."

He said kitchen waste could only be treated using a high-temperature composting system, but few councils, and none in Wales, have them.

The spokesman said the council was considering plans to upgrade to an enclosed "in-vessel" composting system in the next two years.

An "in-vessel" system composts material at about 90C, destroying all the viruses and pathogens it may contain.

A normal composting heap achieves a temperature of about 70C.

Mal Williams, chief executive of Cylch, a charity promoting recycling in Wales, agreed the change could be confusing for people.

But Mr Williams said that everyone would have to separate out kitchen waste intended for composting, although the problem would be overcome when councils invested in the high-temperate anaerobic digesters.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed that home composting was not problem, but separation had to be carried out for commercial or municipal uses.

A Defra spokeswoman said the problem applied only to traditional "old school" composting methods, and there was no guarantee that kitchen waste has not come into contact with animal products.