A trial starting in part of Nottingham next month will see changes to the way in which waste is collected from around 3,500 households. Nottingham City Council says it is aiming to roll out a pilot food waste collection service in the Berridge area, near Bobbers Mill.
The trial will see the households taking part receiving a small caddy that can be kept inside the kitchen, as well as a larger food waste bin that can be put outside for collection. The waste will be collected weekly on the same day as household waste and recycling bins.
Councillor Sally Longford, the portfolio holder for energy, environment and waste at Nottingham City Council, discussed the start of the trial at a meeting on February 8. Councillor Longford said: "Part of [the trial] will be to try and work out the best way to communicate to people what is needed and how it is going to happen.
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"When the small caddies are delivered, which will probably be kept on your kitchen worktop, there will be a knock on the door and a leaflet with multiple languages and a QR code you can click on to access information."
People taking part in the trial will put their food waste bin at the kerbside alongside their household waste or recycling bin by 7am. It will then be collected by a different vehicle and at a different time of the day.
Explaining the purpose of the trial previously, Nottingham City Council said: "Up to 37% in weight of the household rubbish put into our green bins in Nottingham is food waste. Collecting food waste separately from all other waste has many benefits.
"Food waste will be turned into electricity and fertiliser for farming at a local Anaerobic Digestion site. Separating food waste means you have more room in your green bin to put things you cannot recycle and reduces the need for side waste."
The food waste collection trial is part of wider efforts to try and improve the recycling rate across Nottingham. The city council has recently held a public consultation on the future of recycling in Nottingham, which "exceeded expectations" by receiving more than 3,600 responses.
The city's recycling rate in 2019 was 27 percent but this has fallen to 23.9 percent by October 2022. The recent consultation asked residents to choose between a future of twin stream or multi-stream recycling.
The former idea would see paper and card would be collected separately from other recyclable materials, which would continue to be collected in a wheelie bin. The latter would see multiple recycling containers introduced, with separate containers provided to collect paper and card, plastics and cans, and glass.
In terms of the food waste collection trial, the small indoor kitchen caddy will hold seven litres and the food waste bin will hold 23 litres of rubbish. The full proposals for Nottingham's future recycling strategy will be presented to an Executive Board meeting in March.
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