Hundreds more homes added to Exeter’s food waste collection service
Published: 28 November 2023
Another 600 more homes in Exeter are set to get kerbside food waste collections before Christmas.
The latest homes to benefit from the roll-out of the scheme are situated in parts of St David’s, Newtown and St Leonards.
Black (with a red lid) caddies are being delivered to the properties this week (Monday 27 November to Friday 1 December) and weekly food waste collections will start from Wednesday 6 December.
More than 21,000 homes in the city are already part of the scheme. The roll-out began in 2021 and parts of Alphington, Beacon Heath, Cowick, Exwick, Heavitree, Mincinglake, Pinhoe, Pennsylvania, Polsloe, St James, St Loyes, St Thomas, Stoke Hill, and Whipton Barton are now receiving regular weekly collections of their food waste.
Cllr Ruth Williams, Lead Councillor for Place and City Management said: “This is another positive step forward in rolling out food waste collections to the whole of the city.
“We still have a fair way to go but we are getting there and in the last twelve months we have added nearly 17,000 extra homes to the roll-out.”
Cllr Williams asked people to be patient as more and more households are added to the scheme. “The message is simple: please don’t contact us, we will contact you in plenty of time, explaining when your area is starting, how the scheme works and delivering your caddies.”
The initiative will continue to be gradually introduced across the whole of the city. Once complete it is expected that the city’s recycling rate will see a dramatic increase, as food waste is 38% of a typical black bin in Exeter, according to the latest analysis carried out in 2022.
Exeter City Council encourages people to only buy what they are likely to consume and is currently the best performing of all Devon’s district councils when it comes to producing the least amount of waste per head. This has decreased by a further 24kg per head in 2022/23 to 278kg per person.
However, adding a food waste collection service helps the planet and the battle against climate change. Diverting food waste from incineration to anaerobic digestion saves CO2 emissions as well as increasing the city’s recycling rate.
Once collected, the food waste is sent off to be turned into soil improver while generating gas and electricity.
As part of the food waste collections, each household will receive a 23-litre kerbside caddy as well as a 5-litre kitchen caddy.
A dedicated page has been set up on the Council's 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 as the roll-out moves forward. 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