Forest of Dean Council warns against Halloween pumpkin waste

Richard Leppington encouraged people to compost or recycle their leftover pumpkins

People have been encouraged to not let their Halloween pumpkins go to waste.

Millions are thrown away every year which has a big impact on the environment, Forest of Dean District Council said.

It instead wants residents to reduce, reuse and recycle - and not leave pumpkins out to avoid attracting boar.

Councillor Richard Leppington said: "Of the pumpkins that will be carved at Halloween, less than half are expected to be eaten.

"And while plenty of supermarket pumpkins are grown locally here in the UK, there is still an environmental cost in transporting millions of pumpkins across the country that are discarded once the fun is over, and the carbon emissions that result from this.

"We would still encourage residents to home compost or recycle their leftover pumpkins using the weekly food waste service where appropriate."

The council has asked residents to make sure tea lights and wax have been removed from pumpkins before recycling.

It also suggests that people chop up larger pumpkins so they fit within their lockable food waste caddy.