Residents urged to recycle pumpkins ahead of Halloween (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Residents urged to recycle pumpkins ahead of Halloween

4:40pm Tuesday 30th October 2012 in Freetime

Croydon Council is urging residents to 'love food, hate waste' to emphasise the importance of ensuring thousands of Halloween pumpkins are fully used and their remains recycled this year.

It is likely 1,000,000 of the giant orange fruits will be carved into laterns across the country.

As a typical pumpkin weighs between two and three kilograms, meaning potentially tonnes of extra waste will be thrown away.

But the council is reminding residents pumpkin flesh and seeds can be used in a number of recipes after the celebrations.

Any leftover pumpkin shells should be placed out with the weekly food waste collections.

Councillor Phil Thomas, cabinet member for environment and highways said: "It's great to see people celebrating and enjoying Halloween.

"It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also a good time to remember how important it is to not throw good food away and to keep organic waste out of landfill."

For recipes visit england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/content/make-most-your-pumpkin-Halloween