Food waste recycling bins and caddies to be delivered to residents in the Leighton Buzzard and Dunstable area from next week

The initiative follows the Central Beds Council’s waste consultation in 2018 which revealed that residents were overwhelmingly supportive of recycling and wanted the option to recycle more of their waste.

After considering the feedback, the council’s Executive Committee agreed to make it easier for residents to recycle. A new contract was started earlier this year which included food waste collection across the south of Central Bedfordshire.

A small 23-litre outdoor food waste bin, smaller indoor kitchen caddy and a roll of food waste caddy liners will be provided to all households. Leaflets will also be delivered to houses explaining how to use the bins and which food items can and can’t be included in the collection.

Bin deliveries will commence from Monday, November 16 and its anticipated this will take four weeks to deliver to all participating areas. As soon as residents receive their bin, they can start using it, with collections starting on their next normal refuse or recycling collection day.

Nearly 25% of the contents of an average general waste bin is made up of food waste and the scheme will provide an opportunity for households to increase the amount they recycle.

UK households throw away 4.5 million tonnes of edible food a year and individual households are throwing out on average £540 worth each year. If everyone in Central Bedfordshire recycled their food waste, this would save the same amount of carbon needed to power more than 1,500 homes for a year.

Councillor Ian Dalgarno, Executive Member for Community Services at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “We are really pleased to be in a position to roll out our weekly food waste recycling service to residents in the south of Central Bedfordshire, we have an ambition to increase recycling rates and want to do everything we can to help residents recycle more.

“It’s clear to me that our residents care a great deal about the environment and recycling and our consultation confirmed this, with nearly everyone (94%) saying they believed it’s important to help people recycle as much as possible.

“Whilst many residents are diligent recyclers, we need to do more to improve this across Central Bedfordshire. By rolling out our new food waste recycling bins, and the garden waste bins to the north of Central Bedfordshire earlier this year, we’re making every effort to ensure it is easy for residents to recycle as much of their waste as possible.

“Recycled food waste can be turned into energy and fertiliser for farms and it’s easy to do. The best thing we can do with our food is enjoy it but some food waste like banana skins, tea bags and plate scrapings are inevitable, and all these can be recycled with this new scheme.”

The food waste collected will be treated at an anaerobic digestion plant using a safe biological process in which food is broken down by micro-organisms to produce renewable energy and a nutrient-rich biofertilizer.

For further details and top recycling tips visit www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/recycling. For tips and recipes to help you waste less food and save money, visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

The south Central Bedfordshire area is: Barton-le-Clay, Billington, Caddington, Chalgrave, Chalton, Dunstable, Eaton Bray, Eggington, Heath and Reach, Hockliffe, Houghton Regis, Hyde, Kensworth, Leighton Buzzard, Slip End, Stanbridge, Streatley, Studham, Sundon, Tilsworth, Toddington, Totternhoe, Whipsnade.

Residents in the north of Central Bedfordshire already receive a weekly kerbside food waste recycling service.

Do you welcome the new service? Email [email protected]