Food Waste Trial being Extended for another Year

At its meeting of the 10th June 2008, the Executive unanimously agreed to the continuation of the Food Waste Trial, with some adjustments and extension of the properties covered for another year.

This will involve extending the trial to include 1400 more properties near the current trial area.

From June 2007 to March 2008, 4000 householders in the North West of the District, including parts of Bookham and Fetcham have been enthusiastically taking part in a trial to recycle their cooked and raw food waste by collecting it in a separate container which is then collected every week by dedicated vehicles.

Households taking part in the trial were provided with two containers; a small caddy for the kitchen and a larger bin for presenting the food waste collection. The food waste trial has been extremely popular with residents, which has resulted in more than 30 tonnes of food waste per month being collected and recycled thus diverting it from landfill.

The trial will continue for another year, being funded by Mole Valley District Council. The Council initially won funding from the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to research the use of an innovative collection system for segregated food waste that allows it to be composted instead of land filled. The research project has been conducted in partnership with Surrey County Council and Elmbridge and Guildford Borough Councils and was selected by WRAP because it demonstrated the potential to address a major part of the waste stream that has traditionally been hard to recycle.

Councillor Mrs Jean Pearson, Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability said:

"The success of the food waste trial is a great credit to all residents taking part in the trial and their on going commitment to recycling their food waste. We are impressed by the amount of additional waste being diverted away from landfill, more than 30 tonnes per month. We hope that the extension of the trial area to include more properties will help increase our recycling rates even further".