Cut waste budgets by collecting more food waste!

Separate food collections run for Somerset County Council have resulted in a drop in the total amount of waste produced according to latest figures from May Gurney. In the Somerset “Sort It Plus” areas, May Gurney are reporting a current residual waste tonnage of only 130 Kg per person per year, the lowest in the UK and a decade ahead of the governments own target of 225 Kg per capita by 2020.

The “Sort It Plus” areas have a weekly collection of recycling (which is sorted at the kerbside) and kitchen waste, with a fortnightly collection of residual black bin waste and garden clippings.

The figures were revealed by Andy Bond, Development Director for May Gurney at the “Who Sorts Wins” seminar in Birmingham this autumn. “Our experience could not only help local authorities significantly increase their diversion rates, but also reduce their overall waste budgets at the same time,” explained Mr Bond.

According to May Gurney, the collection of food waste separately seems to have initiated behavioural change that is larger than the current downturn in waste production that has occurred across the UK as a whole due to the recession. “There seems to be a direct correlation between kerbside sorting, separate food waste collection and low residual waste” says Andy Bond, “the figures are quite startling – we are collecting significantly less waste as a whole in the “Sort It Plus” areas.”

May Gurney have also been keeping a close eye on their costs, and found that the Somerset “Sort It Plus” areas were also proving to be the most cost effective option. “Our experience tells us that it is more cost effective to recycle 65 to 70% than it is to remain at 35 or 40%. This is because we are now in a high gate fee world. Landfill tax and gate fees at mechanised sorting facilities are both going up. The more a council can reduce the amount of materials passing through these processes, the more they will save in their waste budgets as a whole.”

A significant part of the equation is the separate collection of kitchen waste from garden waste. Kitchen waste is collected at the same time as other recyclables and requires expensive treatment due to its animal by-products content. Garden waste collected in Somerset, by contrast, is collected completely separately from food, and is treated in a low cost windrow process.

The other major factor in recovering collection costs is the higher re-sale value of the materials collected. These all combine to drive down costs for the local authority.

More information: www.somersetwaste.gov.uk

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