The ‘Stop Bin-digestion’ campaign was launched this morning and is designed to encourage households to think twice before throwing food in black bins.
Around 100,000 homes in Bristol will receive a pack containing information on how to avoid ‘bin-digestion’, caused when food waste is disposed of in a black bag.
Research for the campaign showed that just over 25% of a Bristol black bin is made up of food waste, which equates to 20,000 tonnes each year.
The council-owned Bristol Waste Company said this campaign will help reduce this and follows on from the “incredible success” of the Slim My Waste campaign, a citywide scheme which saw a massive 23% increase in food waste collected.
Gwen Frost, head of innovation & sustainability at Bristol Waste, said: “Following on from our award-winning Slim My Waste campaign we wanted to remind residents not to place any food into the general waste bin and to make sure they use their brown food caddies to ensure its recycled and stops #bindigestion.
“We know that the average bin in Bristol still contains more than 25% of food waste. The Bin-digestion campaign focuses on how to keep your bin happy and help to reduce unnecessary waste. Simply by planning your shop and meals you can reduce unnecessary food waste massively.”
“With lockdown restrictions, people are buying and cooking more food at home and we want them to start to re-evaluate their behaviours”
“With lockdown restrictions, people are buying and cooking more food at home and we want them to start to re-evaluate their behaviours with food. We believe now is a good time for us to be thinking about how we buy, cook and dispose of unwanted and leftover food.”
Research
Bristol Waste Company said three quarters of food waste in Bristol is avoidable with proper planning, preparation and storage.
The campaign will ask residents to remove any packaging from their food waste, before placing it in a brown food caddy rather than a black wheelie bin.
Food waste in Bristol is sent to the Avonmouth GENeco facility, where a processor turns it in to energy and fertiliser.
Bristol Waste company said the campaign will be rolled out to a cross section of households across the city over a period of four weeks.
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