However, these fruit and vegetable peelings, and other food scraps, must be properly processed into a dehydrated powder that can be used as a nutritious food source for the birds.

In the US, a start-up called Mill has designed a garbage can that automatically dries all the kitchen scraps thrown into it, with no user input.

And the process is no noisier than a dishwasher. Specifically designed so as not to release any unpleasant odours, households can add leftovers for many days, since the trash can’s contents are transformed into powder-like grounds.

Once full, users simply empty these dry remnants into a prepaid box to return to Mill, which then makes the food grounds into a chicken feed ingredient.

The device can be used in the same way as a regular compost bin, except that it is connected to an app via WiFi. This allows users to notify Mill of the availability of a full box of grounds, but also to see the quantity of food waste generated by a household. It functions on the basis of a subscription of US$33 per month.

This approach, which offers consumers the opportunity to become more involved in the recycling of their household waste, is now being expanded with a pilot programme in the city of Tacoma in Washington State.

For the first time ever in the US, a city has partnered with the start-up to integrate the initiative into its operations.

Tacoma hopes to collect data about the food waste generated by its residents in order to reduce it. Participants who reduce the amount of waste they produce will pay less for their Mill subscription.

This partnership is one more effort in a wider mission for the city of Tacoma, which has made household waste reduction its focus.

According to US media reports, the city has been working in this field since 2012, since then diverting up to 1,000 tonnes per year of compostable food waste from landfill.