Overview
- Local councils tell residents to avoid black bins and to use food-waste caddies, brown bins or home composting after removing candles, wax and decorations.
- Forestry England and woodland groups warn against leaving pumpkins in forests, noting risks to hedgehogs and other wildlife as well as contamination from paint and glitter.
- Waste and gardening experts advise chopping pumpkins into small pieces and mixing with dry materials or burying them in garden soil to prevent slimy, anaerobic breakdown.
- Authorities highlight environmental impacts from landfill methane and encourage culinary reuse or safe donations to farms before pumpkins are decorated or left to spoil.
- Guidance notes that dumping pumpkins outdoors can count as fly-tipping, with fixed penalties up to £1,000 and court fines up to £50,000, while widely cited estimates suggest millions of pumpkins become waste each year.