Organic waste includes anything which is biodegradable such as food waste, newspaper, eggshells, natural fibre clothes, wood shavings, leaves and other garden waste. The more water organic matter contains, the faster it will decay. Compost for the garden can be made from organic matter which is broken down by earthworms, bacteria and other decomposers releasing nutrients which help plants to grow.
Wrap, a UK organisation aimed at managing resources sustainably reported an excellent 21% reduction in the amount of food and drink waste thrown out by households in the five years 2007-2012. That's great, but there's still work to be done. WRAP research also shows that in 2018 we threw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste a year in the UK. Of that, almost three quarters (70% of the total) is food we could have eaten (4.5 million tonnes).