Food Waste Collection Trials
Overall around 6.7million tonnes of food waste is produced by households in the UK - that's about a third of our domestic waste.
We are all concerned about the amount of packaging that we have to deal with, but in reality the amount of food wasted by households in the UK is even greater. Food waste is a terrific resource that can be composted to make a great soil improver as well as fermented to make an environmentally friendly fertilizer. However, care needs to be taken with some types of food waste and not all of it can be added to the compost heap at home.
That’s why we’ve introduced trial kerbside collections of food waste as part of existing kerbside recycling services in parts of Leicestershire. Harborough District Council and Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council, as members of the Leicestershire Waste Management Partnership, have been working together to provide residents with a trial collection of household food waste. The new service is available to selected homes in Burbage and Lutterworth.
Further information can be found on the attached press-release.
The trial service was launched in Burbage on 15th October 2007, when the kerbside bins were collected for the first time. Councillor Rook (Chairman of the Partnership and Portfolio Holder for Waste at Harborough District Council) can be seen with Councillor Francks (Executive Member for Refuse Collection at Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council), emptying one of the kerbside bins into the collection vehicle.
Trial Extended!
Following a successful initial six-month trial, the scheme has been extended. Food waste will continue to be collected from homes in parts of Burbage and Lutterworth, but also from new collection rounds in Barwell and Broughton Astely.
Results from the first six month period were encouraging, with nearly 100 tonnes of food waste diverted from landfill and composted to create soil conditioner. Analysis has shown that over two thirds of residents are participating in the scheme.
Reduce Your Food Waste
As a supporter of the 'Love Food, Hate Waste' campaign the Partnership is backing all efforts to prevent food waste arising. 'Love Food, Hate Waste' has a website that gives practical tips to help the environment and save you money. You can visit the website by following this link www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
We waste a huge amount of food. In economic terms, the cost of food waste is high. Recent figures suggest each household throws away between £4.80 and £7.70 of food that could have been eaten each week, £250-£400 a year or £15,000-£24,000 in a lifetime. What a waste! But it needn’t be. We’ve put together a few of our own tips on how you can reduce your food waste:
- Use it or loose it!- Know what’s in the cupboard and fridge and plan your meals around the “best before” dates on the products you are storing.
- Watch that dial!- 70% of fridges are set at a too high a temperature. Make sure yours is set between 1-5oC.
- Buy local- A monthly trip to the big supermarket may be convenient but try buying things like meat, fish and veg from your local farm shop or market when you need it. It’ll probably be cheaper and tastier.
- Love your leftovers- Bubble and squeak, pies and sandwiches. There’s loads you can make from leftovers.
- Plan your shopping- Shop with meals in mind and you’ll end up saving money and wasting less.
