Food Recycling Service To Be Expanded


After pilot waste collection scheme is declared a success

A pilot scheme to recycle food waste in Merton Borough has been declared so successful it will be expanded to a further 40,000 homes.

During the six months since the start of the trial service, Merton Council collected more than 400 tonnes of food waste for recycling into compost from 10,000 households.

Between June and September the service will be rolled out to 30,000 homes and once that phase is completed, the service will be extended to an extra 10,000 homes by March 2011.

The council originally won funding from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) to expand the food waste service to 30,000 households. On top of this, WRAP has offered the council extra funding for the extra 10,000 households.

A recent survey of residents taking part in the pilot showed 96% respondents were happy with food waste collection. Eighty-nine percent said the outside, lockable bins worked well and 79% were happy with the kitchen food caddy.

Also, 86% of respondents agreed the amount of waste in their black bin liners dropped and 67% said their streets were cleaner.

Once all 50,000 households receive the food waste collection service, Merton Council expects to see its recycling rate rise by another 5% to 38% over the next two years.

April 1, 2010