Oldham Council is encouraging residents to curb household food waste and improve recycling efforts in order to save money.

Households could save up to £720 a year by reducing food waste and recycling better, according to the council.

But to do so, residents need to become more food savvy with the produce they buy and become more conscious about how food is kept, eaten and disposed of.

The idea is to reduce the amount of food thrown away as general waste and to plan meals in advance to stretch money even further.

Recycle for Greater Manchester has plenty of tips and tricks to 'buy, keep, eat, repeat' to reduce food waste and save money.

The Oldham Times: The Recycle for Greater Manchester scheme encourages people to 'buy, keep, eat, repeat' to mitigate food waste.The Recycle for Greater Manchester scheme encourages people to 'buy, keep, eat, repeat' to mitigate food waste.

Among the top tips for 'buy', the initiative recommends shopping smarter by sticking local for the best deals and looking for 'wonky' vegetables in supermarkets which are typically cheaper.

In order to keep food for longer, fridges should be kept below 5C and food should be stored in the correct way.

If the temperature of your fridge is too high, food is likely to go off more easily.

When it comes to eating, Recycle for Greater Manchester says the best way is to plan meals in advance, batch cook meals and use up any leftover berries in baking or vegetables in a stir-fry.

And finally, to repeat the process, residents are being encouraged to use a food caddy or green bin for food waste which is turned into compost.

The encouragement comes as Oldham Council estimates it collected 36,856 tonnes of grey bin rubbish in 2021/22, an estimated 30 per cent of which (or 11,057 tonnes) was food waste.

The council says putting food waste into the grey bin instead of the green bin is helping to drive up waste disposal costs which cost the local authority £19 million a year.

Councillor Jean Stretton, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said that this means "it's council tax payers' who pick up the tab."

Cllr Stretton added: “Money is really tight for many families at the minute due to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Fuel bills and food prices seem to be going up every day.

“It’s estimated every household throws away around £60 worth of food a month – that’s money that could come in very handy elsewhere.

“Just buying only what you need and planning meals, making sure fruit is stored properly and checking your fridge is at the right temperature could help out.”