Inverness food waste collections going well
It is now six weeks since The Highland Council introduced Food Waste Collections to households in Inverness and so far the results are very positive with approximately 200 tonnes collected. This means an average of about 1.5kg per household is being diverted from landfill per week – or 78 kg per year.
Contamination with the wrong material has been very low but householders are reminded that all packaging should be removed before food is put into the caddies. The new food waste collection service accepts most raw and cooked waste including fruit and vegetables, bread, dairy products, fish and meat (including bones), bread, rice and pasta, tea bags and coffee grinds, but not liquids, oils and fats.
Chairman of the TEC Services Committee, Councillor Graham Phillips, said: “I am delighted at the response of residents to the new collections and the low level of contamination, it looks like those householders that are using the service have completely embraced it so thank you to everyone for getting involved. We do urge those households who aren’t yet using the service to look carefully at what is going into their refuse bin and make sure they are no longer putting food waste in it. Food waste is a valuable resource. By using this new service, food waste is diverted from landfill, and is composted into an agricultural fertiliser.”
It is also very important that only special compostable bags are used to line the caddies. These are not the same as ‘bio-degradable’ or ‘degradable’ bags (eg some supermarket plastic shopping bags) which do not break down completely and so must not be used. The Highland Council provided an initial 3 months’ supply of bags and a further 9 months’ supply will be delivered in December; this is enough for an average of one bag every 3 days. Those requiring more bags than this will need to buy their own additional compostable bags. Householders are now being asked not to line their bins with newspaper -or anything other than approved, properly compostable bags.
The service is to be extended to flatted properties over the coming months and these households will receive advance information on the new service
It has been estimated that on average Scottish households throw away £430 of food a year. For advice on how to reduce your food waste go to http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ Further information about the service is available by contacting The Waste Awareness Team on 01349 886603 or emailing recycle@highland.gov.uk or by visiting http://www.highland.gov.uk/recycle.htm.