Recycling is spook-tactually EASY in RCT and Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is calling all its residents to cast a spell and turn their Halloween green by recycling all their extra waste – especially their pumpkins!
We may not be able to turn your pumpkin into a carriage to go to a Halloween ball – BUT by recycling just ONE pumpkin you can create enough energy to power your home to host an electrifying Halloween party!!
That’s a seriously terrifying amount of potential power being wasted!
The great news is residents in Rhondda Cynon Taf are frighteningly good at recycling their food waste and the latest recycling tonnages are showing that more and more of us are super-charging our inedible food and left-overs – with almost 300 tonnes of food waste now being collected more regularly in just one week - That’s the same weight as a Boeing 747 aeroplane, that can now be turned into enough energy to power 27 homes!
Even more great news is that the food waste hasn’t ended up rotting in landfill, as wasted food accounts for a staggering 8–10% of total greenhouse gas emissions.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is asking its residents to keep up their green efforts by filling their food waste caddies with all their ghastly party food leftovers and slimy pumpkin guts after the Halloween celebrations have finished.
Many residents are busy planning their gruesome celebrations and now is the time to think – Is it a Treat or Trash? What items do you need to bin and where?
Eyes of newts and pumpkin seeds, with a sprinkle of coal and a milk bottle top might be great for the cauldron, but not for the CLEAR bag or food waste caddy and will turn you into a wasteful witch before you can say BOO! Luckily in RCT we have the witches A-Z online guide to recycling which can make sure that any spell that you cast won’t be unintentional!
Don’t worry you don’t have to be a witch to use it - The A-Z searchable online guide is available 24/7 for residents to use - www.rctcbc.gov.uk/RecyclingSearch!
What about ALL your ghastly decorations once you’re done – keep re-use in mind and think about buying items that can be re-used year after year.
When it comes carving out your pumpkins – remember that it’s likely that millions of other households are doing the same! That’s lots of pumpkin seeds and guts! Why not use it to create the perfect autumnal meal - the flesh of the pumpkin could also be used as the main ingredient in a tasty dish like pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie or roasted pumpkin risotto. Pumpkin can also be used as a cheap and tasty alternative to sweet potato – find more recipes at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.
Once your pumpkin has started to lose their smile, don’t forget to either chop it up and place into your food waste caddy or place it whole on top of your outside food waste caddy for collection – remember to remove any lights/candles.
All your party food packaging, e.g. cans, glass bottles, yogurt pots, jam pots and lots more, can be recycled using the CLEAR recycling bags, which are available to collect in hundreds of recycling points across RCT – you can find your nearest at www.rctcbc.gov.uk/Bags.
If your idea of Halloween fun, is watching a spooky movie then remember that by recycling just one pumpkin skin you could power a TV long enough to watch Hocus Pocus and the Addams Family!
In Rhondda Cynon Taf we are taking MIGHTY actions to recycle and fight against ghastly consequences of climate change and thanks to the standardisation of waste collection in September 2024 and our amazing residents there has been a 17% increase in food waste recycled and a 36% decrease in black bag waste collected! We are also consistently recycling well over 70% of our waste and are proud to say that we smashed the 70% Welsh Government target for 2024/25.
Councillor Ann Crimmings, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council's Cabinet Member for Environmental Services said:
"The Halloween season is a great time for families to have fun, although it is still important that we remember to think green and recycle all the extra waste that we might create.
"The support of our householders towards our food waste kerbside recycling has been amazing so far. I want to thank each resident of our County Borough for doing their bit.
"The great news is that more and more of our residents are thinking green daily, and the latest figures are a testament to this. We're asking all the little (and big) witches and ghouls to recycle all their scary waste this Halloween."
Recycling in Rhondda Cynon Taf couldn't be easier, with a weekly, unlimited recycling collection and a wide variety of places, across the County Borough to pick up your recycling bags from!
Remember you can sign up to food waste, green waste and nappy recycling online.
In addition to this, ALL Community Recycling Centres across the County Borough are open 7 days a week from 8.30am - 6.30pm (March-October) 8.30am - 4.30pm (28th October to March, it follows the clocks going back and forward).
Green Waste recycling collections will also be changing to a bookable service for the winter period very soon – so if you’re a winter gardener remember to put 18/11/25 in your diary and book your collections when you need them (online booking opens from 3rd November 2025).
For more information on recycling in RCT follow us on facebook and twitter or visit www.rctcbc.gov.uk/recycling.
Posted on 27/10/2025