Food Waste Collection - Glad Tidings We Bring
A final decision will be made by the Executive early in the New Year, once they have the following information:
- Results of consultation with future Central Beds Unitary partners, South Beds District Council and the County Council
- clarification and confirmation of financial support from the County Council
- details on the proposed phased rollout of the scheme
- further financial information
Today’s decision follows the unequivocal success of the current food waste trial in the district, which has been in operation since April. In its first eight months of operation the trial has seen an excellent participation rate of between 70% and 80% by the 6300 households in the trial areas.
On average, 1.75kg of food waste is collected from each participating household per week. With a district wide collection of food waste, it is anticipated that around 5000 tonnes pa of food waste will be collected in the district .
Food waste collected in Mid Beds is taken to Biogen at Milton Ernest and is made into bio-fertiliser through a process called anaerobic digestion. As a by-product of this process, electricity is produced and fed into the national grid.
Cllr Budge Wells, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services at Mid Beds said: “Research has shown that food waste makes up around 12% of people’s total residual black bin waste. By diverting this waste away from landfill and recycling it for use on crops, this is an effective way to reduce the damage to the environment caused by methane emitting from landfill sites and provide a popular service for Mid Beds residents.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
Current trial areas are in parts of Cranfield, Flitwick, Shefford, Sandy and Potton
The current food waste collection trial has been funded by the County Council, which in turn received some partial funding from the Waste Resources Action programme.
