Food waste bin success as targeted recycling levels reached

Food waste bins and caddies have been delivered to more than 70,000 homes, with an early adopter service for 3,000 households in autumn 2020 followed by the rollout to more than 67,000 homes in February.

The scheme also replaced 240-litre grey waste bins with 140-litre ones to encourage people to use the food waste caddies.

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Another 14,000 households, in high rise flats, will get the food waste bins in 2022.

Reading Borough Council (RBC) predicted introducing food waste collections would increase Reading’s recycling rate from 34 per cent to 45 per cent.

Councillor Adele Barnett-Ward, speaking at Full Council, said: “I am delighted to be able to announce that early results from the new service indicate that we have indeed reached that 45 per cent target.

“This is a truly impressive improvement in the recycling rate, and I would like to thank Reading’s residents, as well as our hard-working council officers in waste management, for embracing the new service and making it a success.”

RBC is aiming to recycle 55 per cent of all waste by 2025.

The food waste bin and caddy

It currently is behind the target made by all EU countries, which included the UK at the time of pledge, to recycle at least 50 per cent of household waste by 2020.

Cllr Barnett-Ward announced the results in response to a question from Nicholas Fudge, a Conservative candidate at this year’s May elections, who asked whether the combined food waste and grey bin reduction scheme would lead to an increase in fly-tipping and how this would be addressed.

Cllr Barnett-Ward said the early adopter trial did not result in an increase in fly-tipping as a direct result of introducing the smaller residual waste bins, and to date this has been the same for the main roll-out.

And she said the council’s recycling and enforcement team would investigate fly-tipping reports and take the appropriate enforcement action against an individual or business if evidence is found during the investigation.

Since the establishment of the team in November 2019, 518 fines have been issued for waste that has been dumped and 31 individuals have been successfully prosecuted in court for waste offences.

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Cllr Barnett-Ward said: “The council will not tolerate environmental crime as the residents of Reading should not have to put up with fly tipping in any circumstances.”

The food waste scheme is expected to save the council around £233,000 per year.

Food waste will not be coming to high-rise flats until 2022

But Cllr Barnett-Ward added: “Financial savings, whilst very much needed following over a decade of central government cuts to local government funding, are not the only reason for introducing the new food waste service and reducing the amount of waste Reading sends to landfill.

“Reading’s kerbside food waste collection means that our town’s excess food is now used for make fertiliser and generate electricity instead of rotting in landfill releasing methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

“This demonstrates the council’s commitment to delivering the actions set out in response to its Climate Emergency declaration in 2019.”