Southend-on-Sea borough council has been offering a three-month food waste collection trial ince Monday (July 23) to approximately one eighth of its residents.
The measures should help Southend boost its 28% recycling and composting rate as achieved in 2006/07 to an estimated 34% by 2010.
Councillor Ian Robertson, executive councillor for public protection and waste, said: “Success is dependent on people's willingness to take part in the schemes – by taking a few moments to sort one's rubbish you can make a big difference to the local environment We need to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill otherwise we face stringent penalties.”
He stressed: “Our target is to achieve a recycling/composting rate of 34%. With help from across the community, I believe this is achievable.”
Food waste
Food waste is the largest single biodegradable element where there is currently no separate collection for composting in the borough.
Under the new food waste collection scheme, residents will be provided with
kitchen caddies, biodegradable sacks and plastic containers to store their food waste. The service is expected to involve one round a day and last three months, after which residents will be asked to give feedback to the council.
Collected food waste will be dealt with by in-vessel facilities under contract with Essex county council.
Changes to the kerbside dry recycling collections meanwhile mean that glass accepted in the town's pink recycling sacks alongside paper, card, cans and plastics, with textiles collected in a separate clear sack. The glass is then processed by collection firm Berryman.
Residents will also be given more pink sacks in which to collect recyclable materials, and fewer black sacks to collect residual waste.
Councillor Robertson said: “We have plenty of facilities to encourage people to think about how they deposit their waste.”
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