A binman who calls himself a 'binfluencer' has shared his top tips for preventing maggots from infesting food waste bins, as councils across the UK introduce new collections.
The No1 Binman has received many questions from followers about keeping pests out of the bins, especially during recent warm weather. His advice comes as the rollout accelerates after a £295m government funding announcement in 2024 for weekly food waste collections.
How to stop maggots taking over your food waste bin
The binman advised: 'If you've got some smelly food, it proper pongs, double bag it. Then once you have double bagged it, make sure you squeeze the air out of it and then make sure it's tight and put it in your bin.'
He also recommended keeping the bin out of direct sunlight. 'When it starts cooking and heating up, it attracts more flies because of the smell of it, try and put in the shade - under a chair or anywhere you can.'
Keep lid closed and use freezer
He added: 'Thirdly, keep the lid closed. If the flies can't get in there, they can't lay the maggots to then be in the bin. If you can, put the food waste in the freezer and then on bin day, put it in your bin.'
Another tip: 'If you want to get rid of some of them, you can put salt in your bin - It'll also stop the maggots.'
Viewers share their experiences
Many people responded to the video. One viewer wrote: 'In the last heatwave it got to 31.5c in our house and never gave the bin a thought until at 9.25 at night they were crawling all over the place. Never again!'
Another remarked: 'The lid on my food waste bin broke just before the mega heatwave. My god, I've never smelt anything so disgusting in my whole life. Maggots EVERYWHERE.... They emptied it and I promptly ordered a new bin. Never experienced that before any life and don't want to ever again.'
A third said: 'In heat we always double bag, and once been collected we always clean them with bleach.'
A fourth added: 'I put paper towel at the bottom and then put salt in it always works.'
