Food waste collection services will be extended by the Council from 5th May 2014 as part of the drive to recycle more and reduce the amount of rubbish sent to costly landfill.
Councillor David Dixon (Lib-Dem, Oldfield), Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: “The Council wants to continue to drive the level of food waste collection upwards in order to reduce the amount of material being sent to landfill, which incurs charges on the public purse meaning we have less money for local priorities.
“People living in flats have been calling for this measure for a while, so the Council is pleased to listen and respond with action. We also want to encourage more schools to recycle their food waste with us. This is why we’ve frozen our collection charges for business and school waste collections for 2014.”
Most residents living in flats with communal recycling bin collections will be offered a food waste collection.
The service will be introduced in groups of sites starting in Keynsham and Saltford, starting from 5th May. Households will receive a letter a couple of weeks before their collections start.
Waste Campaigns Officers will visit each flat the week before the collections are due to begin to give them a small kitchen caddy in which to collect all their food waste, a starter roll of compostable liners and a leaflet with full instructions.
Residents will need to tie up the liners and regularly put these into the outside food waste communal bin that will be placed near their recycling bins. Collections will be weekly.
Emma Rawlings, a Bath resident, said: “I’m really looking forward to being able to recycle my food waste. It will mean I can save space in my kitchen as I won’t need such a big rubbish bin.
“I can take my food waste straight out and my bin won’t smell. I hope it will also make me realise how much food I throw away so I can look at ways to save money on food.”
Chargeable collections for waste and recycling will include food waste for the first time. Using a new dedicated vehicle, this new competitive service will be available to all our current and new school and business customers.
A comprehensive range of general waste and recycling collections for cardboard and paper, cans and plastic and glass bottles is already offered to hundreds of organisations locally.
