We’re encouraging residents to give their pumpkins an extra lease of life this Halloween, whether that’s turning them into a tasty meal or recycling them through our food waste collection service.

Pumpkin is a handy ingredient that can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. Why not try using the pumpkin guts left over from decorating to make:

  • Pumpkin soup
  • Pumpkin curry
  • Pumpkin pasta sauce
  • Roasted pumpkin
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Pumpkin muffins
  • And more!

Making use of as much of your pumpkin as possible is an easy way to reduce food waste and could help you save money too. You can find all these recipes, and more, on the BBC Good Food website.

Once the costumes have been put away and the trick-or-treating is over, don’t be too quick to throw your pumpkin away. Once it has seen better days and the candles and decorations have been removed, you can recycle pumpkins using our weekly food waste collection service.

Simply cut up your pumpkin and place it in your food waste caddy for collection. If it doesn’t all  fit, we’ll collect bagged pumpkin waste placed on top of your kitchen caddy throughout the Halloween period. Please do not use black bags, as we need to be able to see that the contents are food waste. Before recycling your Halloween pumpkin, remember to remove any candles, decorations or other non-food items first. If you haven’t received your green food container, you can request one using our online bin request form.

Councillor Ndukwe Onuoha, Cabinet Member for Streetpride, Parks and Leisure, said:

Halloween is great fun, but once it’s over, we don’t want all those pumpkins simply going to waste. There are loads of tasty ways to use your pumpkin once you’ve finished displaying it, from soups and curries to cakes and roasted seeds. When there’s nothing more you can use, pop what’s left into your food waste container so we can recycle it.

Small changes like making the most of the food we buy and recycling what we can’t eat can make a real difference to both the environment and our wallets.”

Residents can find out more about our weekly food waste collection service, including what can go in food waste containers and how to use them on our website.