A million reasons to recycle your food waste
Somerset Council has revealed that around a million pounds could be saved if residents recycled every scrap of food waste instead of binning it.
Currently, too much unwanted food is finding its way into general waste and that costs money to deal with effectively.
The announcement comes as the authority teams up with its collections contractor, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK (SUEZ) to encourage every household to make the most of their food waste recycling service.
Recycling food waste is a much cheaper, and greener, way to dispose of food waste as it avoids the costly fees associated with sending it to Energy from Waste – the process used to recover the energy from what’s thrown out in general waste bins.
Their research shows that 7 out of 10 households in Somerset regularly put their food waste out for recycling. But 16,000 tonnes a year is still going into the rubbish bin, that’s three meals a week per household.
What’s even more shocking is that 7,200 tonnes of this food waste has been discarded in its packaging so Somerset Council and SUEZ are asking everyone to rethink their actions.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Executive Member for Transport and Waste Services said: “Recycling food waste, is cleaner, greener and more convenient.
“You may think that you’re a recycler, but the average household throws about 56kg of food waste in their general rubbish bin every year. That’s the same as one kitchen caddy full every week.
“Small actions can make a difference. Just six recycled teabags can create enough energy to boil the kettle for another cuppa. Even if you have just a small amount of food waste, it’s still worth recycling – and doing so you can help us to save more than a million pounds.”
Matt Canning, Contract Director for SUEZ said: “None of us likes to waste food that we have worked hard to provide for our families; but if we do have to throw it away, we want to encourage a more circular economy where we think of what we throw away as a commodity.
In Somerset, food waste that’s collected at the kerbside is recycled by anaerobic digestion in the county. The anaerobic digestion facility turns food waste into renewable energy and fertiliser.”
Residents that need a new or replacement kitchen caddy or food waste bin can do so online at: www.somerset.gov.uk/order-bins