Fantastic response to food waste collections as residents thanked
Published: 26 November 2021
People in Exeter taking part in the first phase of a food waste collection roll-out have been thanked for a “fantastic” response to the new service.
Almost 10,000 kg (or 10 tonnes) of food waste has been collected from the 1,300 homes in Alphington since the service began at the start of November, with around 80% of households presenting their food waste for collection on a weekly basis.
Previously, food waste would have been placed in with general household waste and sent to the city’s city’s energy from waste plant at Marsh Barton. Now it is being sent off for turning into soil improver whilst generating gas and electricity.
Cllr David Harvey, Lead Councillor for City Management, said he was delighted by the response from the public. “I can’t thank the people of Alphington enough. Their response has been fantastic – they have really got onboard and embraced the new service,” he added.
The service is set to be rolled out to other parts of Exeter next year, with eventually all the city being covered. Other areas will be added to the roll-out as and when vehicles, drivers and containers are available and this will be dependent on the supply chain which is currently an issue across the UK.
Households in Alphington currently enjoying the service are being reminded that they shouldn’t be placing the small kitchen caddy inside their red kerbside caddy.
Instead, the kitchen caddy should be lined with a bag and used to store the waste inside. Once full or on the day of collection, the contents (and not the grey caddy itself) should be emptied into the red caddy for collection at the kerbside.
People can use any bag to line their kitchen caddy, such as an old salad bag or carrier bag. The bags will all be removed at the plant and sent to the energy from waste plant.
Unfortunately, compostable bags won’t break down with the food waste as it is treated by anaerobic digestion, and they are also harder for the plant to remove from the food waste. So residents can save themselves some money by reusing old bags.
Although the City Council encourages people to only buy what they are likely to consume, adding a food waste collection service helps the planet and the battle against climate change, as well as increasing the city’s recycling rate.
A dedicated page has been set up on the City Council website to deal with questions about the service, including how to line the caddy or bag up the food waste.
Dates for the rest of the city are still being looked at and will be clearly communicated with residents when a timetable has been developed. People are being requested not to call the Council but to visit the website where a set of frequently asked questions is available.
To find out more information about food waste collections go to the City Council website at http://exeter.gov.uk/FoodWasteCollections