Luton's New Food Waste Trial

14 February 2019, 18:36 | Updated: 14 February 2019, 18:38

Luton Council are to trial a new food waste system.

General recycling rates have risen by 4% in the town since the introduction of the new bin collection service but approximately 35% of the town's general rubbish is wasted food.

The authority says in order to achieve further reductions, a food waste collection trial will be introduced in two areas.

The 6 month trial, funded by savings made from the move to alternate weekly bin collections, will start on 26th Feb in Saints and Barnfield wards.

It's expected that 28kg of food waste will be collected per property over the period of the pilot.

The waste collected will be sent to an Anaerobic Digestion plant and turned into organic fertiliser and used for growing crops.

The gas that is generated will be converted into electricity and heat, which is not only better for the environment, but will reduce the burden on current landfill tax costs.

Cllr Tom Shaw Portfolio holder for Waste said:

"Most residents are already enthusiastic recyclers, thinking about how much food they buy to reduce the amount of they throw away as well as getting creative with left overs. A record number of people have ordered home composters too.

However, it's costs around £3.1m a year to collect and dispose of the19,000 tonnes of food waste across the town so anything we can do to reduce this is good news. This trial will help people taking part see and reduce the amount of food they waste and we can gauge participation rates of this potential new service".

Householders on the trial will be provided will a small, caddy-style bin for their kitchen, and a larger caddy with a locking lid, which can be kept outside. They will be able to dispose of uneaten food and food waste into the small caddy which will then be emptied into the outside container. Waste from the new bins will be collected each week.

A leaflet will be going out to all participating households giving details on how the trial will run and what can and cannot be placed in the caddies.

For more information visit www.luton.gov.uk/foodwastetrial
3,000 extra households will also be receiving brown bins for garden waste which will encourage further recycling when brown bin collections begin again the first week of March.