Residents urged to back new food waste service

Residents in part of Derbyshire are being urged to use a new food waste collection service which begins on Monday.

Erewash Borough Council said many properties had already been issued a small kitchen bin, compostable liners and a lockable green outside bin, with more to come.

Officials said separating food waste would prevent produce, which took many resources to create, from going to landfill and could make useful fertiliser.

But householders were reminded to follow rules on what to put in the bin, especially avoiding garden waste or any plastic, packaging or liquids.

Food waste will be collected every week on the same day as other waste and recycling, by a separate vehicle.

Mark Alfrey, the council's lead member for environment, said: "Wasting food not only wastes money, but also all the energy used in its production, processing, packaging and transportation.

"Just by putting your food waste into a different bin, it can be transformed into something useful like fertiliser for use in farming – rather than being sent to landfill or incinerated.

"In our borough of over 53,000 households, all the food waste mounts up. We encourage everyone to give the service a try."

Those living in a flat will be provided with bins later this year, he added.

Earlier this year, it was revealed a large number of councils were struggling to meet a government deadline to introduce food waste collections, with some authorities blaming a lack of specialist vehicles or funding shortfalls.

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