Teignbridge to roll out separate food waste collections

Between September and November 2015, collections of food waste and dry recyclables will be brought forward from a fortnightly to weekly service – in a bid to boost recycling rates in the district.

At present, household refuse and recycling is collected fortnightly, with residents issued black boxes for paper, food and drink cans, green boxes for plastic bottles, glass and small WEEE, and green wheeled containers for thin card, food and green waste.

Under the service reform, which will be carried out in three phases across the district, householders will be able to recycle a range of mixed plastics, as well as receiving a separate food waste container and a subscription-based garden waste service.

Thin card will also be collected separately in reusable sacks. At present, local authorities are unable to send thick cardboard for composting as they are often laminated or contain inks and dyes that reduce the quality below the PAS 100 quality standards (see letsrecycle.com story).

Residual waste, which is collected in black wheeled containers, will continue to be collected fortnightly under the changes.

Revision

Teignbridge council, which carries out in-house collections of recyclables and refuse, initially put forward the revised plan in 2014 with the aim of reducing its long-term service costs. The council also aims to align its services more closely with other Devon authorities, as the county council investigates opportunities for a county-wide service (see letsrecycle.com story).

In addition, the capacity of the both the councils Forde Road depot and its Brunel Road bulking station need increasing as the population of the town has grown by 4,700 households over the last 12 years.

In recent years, Teignbridge has become one of the stronger performers for recycling in England, recording a rate of 56.8% in 2012/13. However, this dipped last year to 53.57%. According to the council, it also operates one of the cheapest waste and street cleansing services in Devon, costing £42.72 per household per year.

Councillor Kevin Lake, Teignbridge district council’s executive member for environmental services, said: “Whenever we’ve talked to residents they’ve told us they’d like to see more plastics collected and weekly food waste collections so we are delighted to be able to provide them with what they have asked for.”