FOOD WASTE TURNED INTO RENEWABLE ENERGY

If you are a resident of Stratford-on-Avon District Council and Warwick District Council from August last year you will have started to see new vehicles doing their weekly rounds collecting food waste

This also applies to many other areas in the country where Severn Trent Green Power have contracts to collect household food waste

Residents have been provided with a small 7 litre caddy and a larger 23 litre external food waste bin. The small caddy is designed to be kept in the kitchen for collecting food waste, which can then be transferred into the external food waste bin for collection. The external food bin is designed to be stored outside and has a lockable lid to contain any smells and prevent vermin getting in. The food waste is collected every week which will also helps to prevent smells.

This is a change from the previous collection service in this area where food waste could be put in the garden waste bin as part of the subscription service.

Cllr Ian Shenton, of Stratford District Council Climate Change Portfolio says: “The new food waste recycling service makes it easy for people to recycle their food waste every week. This helps remove any smelly waste from refuse bins and leaves more space for other rubbish.

“It is also helping people realise how much food they waste each week and hopefully act as a prompt to reduce avoidable food waste, such as making the most of leftovers, planning meals and creating shopping lists and storing food correctly.”

UK households waste 6.5 million tonnes of food every year, 4.5 million of which is edible. The average family of four can save over £60 per month by reducing their food waste.

Cllr Shenton, continued: “Since

August 2022 we ceased collecting food and garden waste togetherthis is now collected separately. It is much cheaper to compost garden waste if it is separated from cooked and raw food waste. Food waste has to be treated at much higher temperatures to kill any pathogens that could spread infections on farms.

“While being a change from the old service, residents are adapting to this variation of the new service, whilst still maintaining a weekly food waste collection service.

“Recycling as much as possible will help reduce waste, protect the environment and help us tackle climate change. We can put your waste materials to good use, and we have a legal requirement to recycle as much household waste as we reasonably can. It costs money to collect and dispose of the waste in your grey bin. Recycling all that you can helps to keep Council Tax down.”

Food waste collected from households in the district is taken to