• Planning Portal
• Environment Agency
• Peterborough Environment City Trust
• Natural England
• Joint Nature Conservation Committee
• East of England Development Agency

How to Prevent Insects in Your Bin

Understanding the life cycle of the fly

The life cycle of the common house fly has four stages, egg, larva (maggot), pupa and adult fly.

Adult female flies will lay their eggs on any organic material that will provide suitable food for the

maggots when they emerge. Each female fly can lay up to 500 eggs in batches of 75 to 150 in

three to four days and in the summer during warm weather these eggs can hatch into maggots

in just eight to 20 hours. The fly can complete the whole cycle in as little as seven days and as

many as 12 generations may occur in one summer.

Avoid attracting flies to your bin and decrease the risk of getting maggots

Good housekeeping practices to reduce smells:

• Double bag food waste such as meat and bones. This will help to reduce the smell and prevent the flies laying eggs on the food
• Rinse polystyrene food trays, yoghurt pots and other food packaging that cannot be  recycled to reduce the smell of your refuse
• Rinse your bin out regularly and keep it clean. (If all waste is properly bagged then the bin should not get dirty)
• if possible store the bin away from direct sunlight
• Keep the bin lid shut. If it's broken or does not shut properly call  Peterborough Direct to arrange a repair
• Hang an insecticidal strip inside your bin.
• Home compost your kitchen vegetable waste in a home compost bin. Visit www.trycomposting.com/cambs or www.recyclenow.com/compost to find out more
• Consider purchasing a food digester. These allow you to compost meat and bones as well as vegetable matter
• If nappies are included in your waste, make sure they are double bagged, or consider using  reusable nappies.   Visit www.realnappy.net or call Peterborough Direct for a brochure.

Good housekeeping practices in the kitchen:

• Ensure that your general refuse is placed in proper dustbin liners that are free from holes. Carrier bags are not practical in the summer months as they often contain holes through which flies can enter and maggots can exit
• Squeeze the air out of your bags of waste before placing them in your bin as the lack of air will slow decomposition and reduce smells
• Don't 'store' food waste and un-rinsed food containers in your kitchen bin. Empty it as soon as possible and seal the bin liner before placing it in your black refuse bin.  If flies have already laid eggs and maggots do hatch inside the bag, they will not escape if the bag is sealed tightly
• Solids from disposable nappies should be emptied in to the WC before the nappies are double bagged and put in the bin
• Do not leave food uncovered because flies can lay their eggs in it. (This also applies to pet food)
• The easiest way to sort your refuse from your recycling is to separate as you go. You may find it more convenient to have two small kitchen bins, one for recycling and one for your refuse. (If space is short, then use a reusable bag to store your recycling)
• Try not to prepare too much food, so reducing the amount of food you throw away and saving money.
• All materials placed in the green bin should be clean and dry and therefore will not attract flies at all
• If you are producing too much rubbish for your bin, look at ways of reducing the waste in your home. Reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible to give you plenty of space in your bin.

And finally... if you do get maggots

The only effective way to get rid of maggots is to remove them along with the contents of the bin.

• Pour boiling water over the maggots should kill them
• Tip the contents of the bin into a plastic sac that can be sealed or knotted
• After the bin has been emptied clean and disinfect it well
• Place the plastic sack and it's contents back into the bin ready for your next collection (If the bag remains sealed the maggots will not be able to escape)
•  Alternatively, you may want to wait until your bin has been emptied on collection day, clean and disinfect the bin and ensure that all remnants of maggots have been removed and then follow the good housekeeping practices.