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Cllr Prue Bray, leader of Wokingham Lib Dems, has called for a food waste collection
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Food waste collection could come to borough

September 26, 2012

The council has pledged to look at introducing food waste collections throughout the borough in a bid to increase recycling.

Councillors agreed to examine the cost of running the service and issuing home composting boxes, as well as discovering the benefits to homeowners.

At a meeting of the council on Thursday, September 20, the Liberal Democrats put forward a motion stating councillors will introduce a food waste recycling system within the next four years in a bid to reduce landfill taxes.

Councillor Prue Bray, leader of the Lib Dems, said: “We are keen to pursue this – the fact we asked about it a year ago tells you it is not something we have just thought of.

“We understand there may be costs implications and that the re3 waste disposal arrangement means introducing food waste collection is not straightforward.

“We also know there are many residents who would welcome food waste collection.”

Cllr Angus Ross, executive member for environment, said: “This council wants to recycle as much as possible and we want healthy, clean environments around our homes.

“We haven’t to date considered it in any detail because we are following residents’ wishes to maintain weekly household waste collections.

“Our current re3 contract has no facility for collecting this waste, so once collected it will go to landfill.”

Cllr Ross put forward an amended motion, which was accepted by the opposition and given unanimous approval, stating the council will ‘investigate the costs of food waste recycling and the availability of a processing facility, acknowledging the additional significant cost to the council. Also, to investigate the costs and benefits to residents of home composting boxes’.

Lib Dem Cllr Lindsay Ferris said: “I don’t think a lot of councillors here realise the potential cost of not recycling food waste.

“At the moment we have an allowance for 20,000 tonnes in landfill and that will fall to 13,000 tonnes in 2020. The council therefore has to reduce its landfill by one third.

“I have discovered of the rubbish going to landfill 30 to 35 per cent is food waste.

“I don’t think the 13,000 tonnes target will be achievable if we don’t do something with food waste.”

n If you think the council should introduce food waste recycling email wokinghamtimeseditorial@trinitysouth.co.uk or join the debate on our website www.getwokingham.co.uk.

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This is insane. What very little food waste we produce gets composted. Glass bottles go to landfill. Glass recycling is much needed.

SouthWok .
01/10/2012 at 11:51

I Live Here!, Right Here! - Thats 7 years for Veolias contract which I believe also has a clause to extend further (or is that 7 years if extended?). I believe the other are right in saying that its a 25 year contract with RE3 where the recycling is taken.

Mistwalker
28/09/2012 at 10:26

I'd imagine it's a bit like bulk buying, the more you buy the better value it is.....Could you imgaine if there was a waste contractor change every four years? By the time the contract was bedded in, routes sorted, residents getting used to new collection days etc it would be time to change! (Slight exaggeration I know!!)

I P Freely
28/09/2012 at 10:24

@Damiano_Tommassi and I Live Here!, Right Here!

Back in March/April, when I discovered the length of the contract, I raised a stink about it. I'm not sure if it's standard, but signing a contract longer than a councillor's term seems downright foolish. The borough is tied into the scheme for seven years, so even if residents reject it electorally, there's not a great deal which can be done.

Matthew S. Dent, Wargrave
28/09/2012 at 09:16

A Wellwisher - Every ton of waste that goes to landfill will cost a escalating "fine", whether it rots away or not, so the things that are easy to remove and do something else with would be worthwhile.

Phil Challis, woodley
27/09/2012 at 23:06

Thanks "I Live Here!, Right Here!". I wonder if 7 years is standard for public service contracts. Sounds a little long for me, unless the contract is flexible (and, where necessary) punitive enough.

WokyLocal makes an excellent point. 35% of rubbish going to landfill is food waste? Questionable.

Wellwisher - I agree with the crux of your point ('what harm is it sending food to landfill?') - the thing is, our council is charged per tonne, so if it could be reduced X % by some magic, then our costs should be lower.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
27/09/2012 at 16:53

“I have discovered of the rubbish going to landfill 30 to 35 per cent is food waste."

I smell something and it didn't come from one with udders.

Woky Local
27/09/2012 at 16:18

In the grand scheme of things does it really matter if waste food goes into land fill (apart from the waste of food issue)

its going to compost down pretty quickly, unlike the Glass etc

A Wellwisher
27/09/2012 at 16:06

It's a 7 year contract, NOT 25 years. Source: http://www.mrw.co.uk/news/wokingham-contract-for-veolia/8621986.article

I Live Here!, Right Here!
27/09/2012 at 15:21

Putting vegetable waste into context. Very few vegetables actually need to be peeled. For root vegetables a scrub and the odd scrape is sufficient in most cases and doesn't cause the best part of the vegetable to be thrown away. For green vegetables most of what many people discard can be used in the soup pot and leaves a very small volume to be discarded once cooked. The main volume of vegetable waste is actually generated from fruit: citrus skins, banana skins, apple cores soft fruit stones etc. Most of these can of course be dealt with by many people on the compost heap amongst the grass cuttings.

The disposal of glass is not just irritating, it is very difficult for the elderly who do not have their own transport. Most elderly people that I know put their glass in the blue bag.

PoneRana, Wokingham
27/09/2012 at 14:40

It's never a 25 year contract, is it???? Tell me that's not true...

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
27/09/2012 at 14:04

I agree with Smiffy - who in their right mind signed a 25 year contract which seems to have so little flexibility in it!? It doesn't take much nouse to see that the world will change over the course of 25 years, especially as regard targets and ways of disposing of rubbish.

To have a contract that runs for 25 years that cannot be altered without significant cost is completely irresponsible. Whoever signed it needs firing!

Fed up, Lower Earley
27/09/2012 at 12:57

I think the main question the council need to answer is why they signed such a short sighted contract with re3? They may collect it weekly, which as I have said numerous times, is overkill, but they have a really poor list of things that can be recycled. If you just go a few miles into West Berkshire, you will find free green waste collection, which includes food waste, and they collect glass. I wonder how long the (non) 'visionaries' who signed the contract tied the people of Wokingham into such a poor deal? Surely any contract signed should allow the opportunity to have a contract review?

PopeRana - I agree that a lot of food is unneccesarily wasted, but the definition of food waste includes vegetable peelings, which can be quite considerable over time. Whilst I agree that disposing of glass is irritating and should be the priority, a considerable amount of food 'waste' is generated even by people who aren't wasteful.

Smiffy, Reading
27/09/2012 at 12:26

Other countries already have things like food waste incorporated and works well in reducing amounts. Probabably one of the best places is somewhere in Asia where they have burnable items, recycleables (any), food waste, non-burnable-non-recyclable items, I don't know why the UK cant adopt the best systems from other coutries and adapt them to our own (not just waste).

We should also be focusing on the companies and not the consumers. If companies improved the packaging then this would reduce a lot of the items that go to landfill. The council say that as there is a lot of places that already do glass recycling its not worth encorporating it to kerbside due to cost involved in sorting and removing from the rest, and also Health and Safety... Glass could be put out in a seperate box - use same black boxes but use a different lorry that collects glass only and on a different day? We still have issues of the binmen putting the recycling and waste in the wrong side of the lorry so god knows what would happen if glass or food was attempted to be collected same day - poor little fellas would be even more confuzzled than they are now.

Mistwalker
27/09/2012 at 11:58

I feel this is a solution to a problem that shouldn't exist -- food should not be wasted and doesn't contribute as much harmful material to landfill as other waste that should be getting recycled. The council would be better taking more recyclables at the kerbside. Reducing food waste won't get the council as close to their target as tackling other waste produce.