Despite our green-minded culture, right now the responsible handling of food waste comes with enough built-in hurdles to put you off it altogether. Less than half of local authorities in the UK currently collect food waste, burdening you with the dilemma of how to properly dispose of it yourself. Even those councils that do pick it up will often supply a small kitchen caddy but refuse to accept the compostable bag that lines it – leaving you with three days’ worth of dinner residue down your arm as you try to shake its contents into the outside bin.

This caddy presents its own set of challenges. Scraping your plate’s unwanted contents into something so small is sure to leave half the remnants on the outside of it, and the powerful stench of decomposing food is unleashed upon your kitchen every time you lift the lid. Then there’s the question of where to position it. On the counter it’s a prominently odorous addition to your workspace, while on the floor it’s an accessible and irresistible buffet for dogs, cats and overly curious toddlers alike.

The average UK household throws away £470 worth of food every year – totalling 7.3 million tonnes – of which around 40% still ends up in landfills, emitting dangerous greenhouse gases as it rots. Installing a food waste disposer in your home will divert your food waste from landfill sites, instead sending it to a wastewater treatment plant where it can be converted into biogas.


What is a food waste disposer?

A compact, circular and highly powerful unit that sits discreetly in the cupboard or space underneath your kitchen sink, a food waste disposer can be integrated seamlessly into your existing plumbing system. It takes food waste out of your hands altogether, by grinding solid food waste into tiny particles that will flush into your waste water system just like anything else.

A food waste disposer will revolutionise your kitchen – no more unsightly and smelly waste, no more food residue splattered across the bin lid and no more fishing around for that fork you dropped while scraping your plate.

Food waste disposers are so efficient and easy to use that you’d be forgiven for assuming they were a revolutionary new invention. In fact, here at InSinkErator we’ve been making food waste disposers since we came up with the idea over 80 years ago. Our premium models are manufactured in the USA with the kind of reliable, high-quality engineering that makes us stand out from our competitors.

Because the food waste disposer connects to your plughole at one end and your waste water pipe at the other, the water and other liquid waste that would usually go down the sink will pass through it undisturbed. It also means that you can easily throw solid food straight down the sink – out of sight, out of mind and ready to be ground down at the touch of a button.


How does a food waste disposer work?

All it needs is a power supply and a waste water pipe to connect to. Turn on your tap, switch on the unit and scrape your food waste down the specially modified plughole. As food passes into the main chamber, which is free of blades and sharp parts, a specially designed grinding system will break it down into flushable particles.

How an InSinkErator Food Waste Disposer Works

Why should I get a food waste disposer?

It’s much more than a gadget or a timesaver – while having one in your home will make life that bit easier, it doesn’t just send food particles off down the water pipe and hope nobody notices. When food is redirected to the same treatment plants that your waste water goes to, it can yield valuable biogas, as well as soil nutrients that can be used in fertiliser for the agricultural industry.

Food waste is virtually unavoidable in some form or another. You might pride yourself on devising recipes that use up everything lurking in the fridge, and always ensure there’s nothing left on the plate – but any kind of food preparation is going to produce something inedible that could go down a disposer.


What can I put into a food waste disposer?

You might be surprised by just how much you can throw at a food waste disposer - there's very little food, hard or soft, that its mechanism can’t handle. Even hard items such as bones from chicken, other meats and fish, prawn shells, eggshells and fruit pips and stones will grind down easily.

InSinkErator's Evolution series of food waste disposers are the most advanced on the market. Quiet yet powerful, they can handle almost any food waste. Unlike many other disposers on the market they can grind stringy and fibrous food items like banana peel and rhubarb quickly and easily.

Evolution models also feature multi-stage grinding technology, ensuring an extremely fine grind, so you don’t need to worry about blockages.

The only food waste items you shouldn’t put into a food waste disposer are:

  • Bones that are too big to fit easily down the plughole
  • Oyster shells (as they have a coating which can settle in your plumbing system)
  • Grease, oil and fats (these shouldn't go down any sink, whether it contains a food waste disposer or not)

What food can go down a food waste disposer?

What safety mechanisms does a food waste disposer have?

Aside from a complete absence of knives or blades within the grinding chamber, any of InSinkErator’s products can come with an air switch. This is the most popular method for switching on the food waste disposer and can be mounted on your countertop, eliminating the need to touch the electrical unit with wet hands.


What kinds of food waste disposers are there?

As the inventors of the food waste disposer, InSinkErator’s is the original – often imitated, never bettered – and having manufactured it in the USA for over 80 years we’ve certainly perfected it by now.  Our most popular models meet a wide variety of needs for all kinds of households and include the following.

Evolution 250 Premium Food Waste Disposal

The most powerful and food waste disposer in our range, the Evolution 250 boasts a stylish black trim, 1,180ml stainless steel chamber with uniquely superior grinding elements and an 8-year product guarantee.

Evolution 150 Premium Food Waste Disposal

This special edition unit is perfect for large households and growing families. With a spacious 1005ml chamber and quiet two-stage grind technology, it comes with a 7-year guarantee.

Model 66 Food Waste Disposal

Our M-Series range combines kitchen convenience with compact design, perfect for smaller cupboards. The Model 66 sits at the top of this range and comes with a 4-year guarantee.

Model 56 Food Waste Disposal

The mid-range M-Series model will fit discreetly in your kitchen cupboard and has powerful one-stage grind technology, a .55 hp motor and a 3-year warranty.

Model 46 Food Waste Disposal

Our entry-level M-Series model is ideal for small households and individuals. The Model 46 effortlessly grinds most food waste and comes with a 2-year warranty.

Are food waste disposers cost efficient?

With a significant reduction in time and effort when handling food waste, as well as very low running costs, the benefits of a food waste disposer will be clear immediately. Even our most powerful unit, the Evolution 250, uses an average of only 5 litres of water per person, per day (figures show that the average UK household uses 349 litres per day). The same unit uses 2 to 3 KWH per year in electricity against an overall household average of 3000 to 4000 KWH.

One of InSinkErator’s high-quality food waste disposers is a truly worthwhile investment that will not only prove efficient but make your kitchen a more streamlined and pleasant place to cook and eat.

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