Food waste collections - what do you think?
The Government recently published its Resources and Waste strategy for the UK which aims to improve recycling rates and increase resource efficiency.
It has now launched four consultations on parts of that strategy and one of the proposals is by 2023 to introduce weekly food waste collections.
Malvern Hills District Council will respond formally to this proposal and the other consultations in the near future. However, before we do we would like to hear the views of you, our dedicated newsletter readers, by asking you to take part in a quick poll.
We have covered food waste many times in this newsletter and the importance of reducing it to a minimum due to the environmental impact of food production.
A reminder of some key food waste facts:
- The UK throws away more than 10million tonnes of food every year and 70% of that comes from UK households with incorrect refrigeration and storage a major cause.
- Food waste is one of the top contributors to climate change. If food waste was a country it would be the third most polluting on the planet.
- It’s harmful to wildlife too as an area equivalent to the size of Wales would need to be cleared to produce the food that is wasted in the UK. Globally this means deforestation and the destruction of whole ecosystems, as animal habitats are destroyed.
Even if food is recycled, it’s still been wasted. That’s why our initial thinking is the focus should remain on encouraging people not to waste food in the first place and to home compost what they can, instead of a formal recycling service.
But, what do you think? In a moment we will ask you to have your say and your views will help influence our consultation response.
First though, let’s quickly summarise the case for and against food waste recycling:
- Food when it breaks down in landfill releases methane which is a key contributor to climate change. Recycling it will ensure this methane is captured, usually through a process of anaerobic digestion, and used to produce energy instead. [Editor’s note: This isn’t an issue in Worcestershire as any food waste put in your black bin will be sent to the Energy from Waste Plant and burnt to generate electricity. If you missed our newsletter on this subject you can read it here]
- It will boost the council and the UK’s recycling rate helping us to hit our target of recycling 50% of household waste
- It may help reduce issues with smells and pests (although proper bagging of food and other waste like dirty nappies will do this also)
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- Introducing a food recycling scheme could normalise food waste and encourage people to waste more rather than try and minimise it
- Food waste recycling is unlikely to offset the environmental damage caused by producing and transporting that food (ie water, energy etc) in the first place. If food is bought to eat it should be used for that purpose, not wasted
- It will be expensive to introduce and unless fully funded by central government may have an impact on the wider waste and recycling collection service or possibly other council services
- It will create the need for more vehicles, which results in more trucks travelling around the district adding to CO2 emissions
So now it’s over to you.
Click here to take part in the vote and let us know what you think. All votes and comments are anonymous.
Remember if you want hints and tips on reducing your food waste then you’ll find lots of inspiration at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com
The other Government consultations are:
- Recycling Consistency – this would ensure every council collects the same set of materials for recycling. This also includes the food waste collection proposal.
- Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility – basically this would extend the responsibility placed on companies to dispose/recycle the waste they produce with the hope it will encourage a reduction in packaging overall.
- Deposit Return Scheme for plastic bottles – a small charge would be put on plastic bottles which people would recover if they returned them for recycling.
- Plastic Packaging Tax – from April 2022 packaging made with less than 30% of recycled content would be subject to a new tax. In the UK there is over two million tonnes of plastic packaging used each year. The vast majority is made from new, rather than recycled plastic.
The consultations are open until 13 May 2019 (12 May 2019 for Plastic Packaging Tax) and if you’d like to have your say you can do so here.
It's black bin/sack week
A reminder that from Monday (4 March) we will once again be collecting black bins/sacks.
Remember
- Please put your bin/sacks out by 7am on your usual collection day
- All waste must be inside the bin. Any sacks left on top or by the side of the bin will not be collected
- If you are on a sack collection you can put out up to four sacks per fortnight (six for a larger household)
Our recycling and waste reduction guide is available to view here
You can keep track of which colour bin/sack to put out by referring to the 2019 collection calendar here.
You can also use the online collection day look up calendar here.
Any disruption to our collection service will be reported here.
Struggling to move your bin? You may qualify for an assisted collection. Click here for more information.
Missed collection? Report it online here.
If you have any queries about the new service email depotadmin@malvernhills.gov.uk
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