Richmond to expand food waste service to 3,300 more properties

The properties in question in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames are those with communal waste and recycling facilities, the council added.

It explained that residents which are part of the current roll out will be notified by the end of March, with kitchen caddies, a leaflet and a free starter roll of compostable liners to be delivered to their households.

The local authority noted that further premises will start receiving this service later this year.

Richmond borough council serves approximately 195,000 residents. Its 2020/21 Defra-confirmed recycling rate is 40.1%. The council said this rose to around 44% a year later.

An expansion of food waste services in the area could see Richmond become one of the highest London boroughs for recycling. This currently stands with Bexley, which recorded a 50% rate in 2020/21.

Food waste

Councillor Julia Neden-Watts, chair of Richmond’s environment, sustainability, culture and sports committee, highlighted the environmental benefits of tackling food waste.

“In the borough of Richmond upon Thames, an estimated average of 153kg of food is wasted by each household every year. Producing all this food waste generates around 48,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions,” she outlined.

Cllr Neden-Watts added that the service is a “key element” in tackling the issue of food waste ending up in residual waste.

“For some things like raw vegetable peelings, home composting can be a good option, if there is space. Otherwise, using the food recycling service is a simple habit to adopt to keep food out of general waste bins and reduce carbon emissions associated with managing this waste,” she advised.

Processing

Richmond upon Thames is part of West London Waste Authority (WLWA), which also disposes of waste and recycling collected by the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.

The council explained that the weekly collected food waste is initially delivered to the waste disposal authority in Hounslow. It added that WLWA then delivers bulk loads of food waste to Bio Collectors’ anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities in Mitcham.