Rubbish Experiment In Leiston

31 March 2010, 05:54 | Updated: 31 March 2010, 05:57

Residents of King George's Avenue, Leiston, have been setting a green example for the rest of the district by taking part in a two-week experiment this month to minimise their waste and succeeding in cutting nearly a third of it.

With funding from the Government, the Suffolk Waste Partnership set up the Seven Suffolk Streets project in each district to see what more can be done to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

The amount of non-recyclable waste collected at the end of the fortnight was 30 per cent, or over 400 kilos, less than the amount collected at the start of the project, with Leiston Primary School managing to reduce its non-recyclable waste by nearly a half.

The school succeeded by composting all its fruit and vegetable peelings from snack time and recycling all leftover cooked and uncooked kitchen waste, thanks to the support of the school kitchen and the caretaker.
 
Other initiatives during the fortnight included a textile recycling bank, a battery collection box and also one for mobile phones and printer cartridges, and advising residents of what they could take to Leiston's recycling centre.

Councillor Andrew Nunn, Cabinet Member for the Green Environment said:

"Our district's residents are now recycling or composting nearly 52 per cent of all their waste as they know it will cost the earth if we do not reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill as the financial and environmental impacts are frightening.

"The challenge is how we can reduce that remaining 48 per cent of waste. What can we all do to either recycle, reuse or minimise it? This project and Leiston's green pioneers will hopefully offer us answers we can all follow".