WRAP launches 250,000 household composting trials

Between February and June 2004, WRAP will distribute 250,000 home composting bins of different materials, shapes and sizes to householders across the UK at a range of prices. The trial will involve nine different types of bins made from plastic or wood for composting garden and kitchen waste.

Aim
Head of the home composting project Gary Hilder said WRAP's aim was to see what type of bins work best in different areas, before going on to provide bins for 1.5 million households by 2007. This could help the UK meet Landfill Directive targets (see letsrecycle.com Landfill Directive page) by diverting biodegradable waste from landfill.

Authorities
Twenty-one local authorities will take part in the pilot. Mr Hilder said he could not yet name them, as so far only 16 had been confirmed and the rest were being finalised. They will include a spread of rural and urban areas, councils which already offer home composting bins, and those which don’t.

WRAP assessed more than 50 types of bin in the initial stages of the project, which began last September, after inviting tenders from container manufacturers. The nine selected for the full trial are: two small plastic bins (150-300 litres), three medium plastic bins (300-600 litres), three large plastic bins (more than 600 litres) and one large wooden bin (600 litres). These will be supplied by manufacturers Excel, Blackwall, Straight, Container Trading and Peter Ridley Waste Systems.

Charging
Most householders in the trial will be charged 5-15 for their bins, with only a few areas being given free containers. Mr Hilder said: “Some of the bins will be given away free in certain pilot areas, but the majority will be paid for. There is a belief that charging a subsidised price gets a better commitment to home composting.”

But Mr Hilder promised householders would pay “substantially lower prices” than the bins' market value. He did not disclose the total cost of WRAP's trial, but revealed funded would come from WRAP's Waste Minimisation department.

WRAP will begin evaluating the results of the trial, based on householder uptake and interviews and reduction of waste going to landfill, in August 2004.