Recycling scheme cuts kitchen waste sent to landfill sites

A marked increase in recycling rates has been seen in Rothwell, which is the focus of a Leeds City Council's pilot project to collect food waste alongside improvements to other recycling collections.

In just 12 weeks since the scheme started, the amount of residual waste – rubbish which is not recycled – has reduced in Rothwell to 6.25 kg per home a week, compared with 10.52 kg for the average household across Leeds.

Instead of food scraps being consigned to rot in the ground, the Rothwell food rubbish is collected weekly in small kitchen caddies, transferred to containers outside and then taken away for processing into compost. The scheme also involves fortnightly collections of both green bins and black general waste bins. During the first 12 weeks of the scheme Rothwell residents were regularly recycling over half of all their waste, averaging 56 per cent a week and reaching a high of 61 per cent. This already far exceeds the city target of half of all waste to be recycled by the year 2020.

Coun James Monaghan, executive member with responsibility for recycling and refuse, said: "This is fantastic news and we are really encouraged by how enthusiastically the people of Rothwell have taken to this trial. It's incredible to see what a difference to the overall recycling rates saving your potato peelings and leftovers can make."

Around 8,500 homes in the area are taking part in the six-month trial to see whether recycling rates could be boosted by the introduction of the new scheme that includes food waste collections and more frequent green bin collections.

Residents have been putting out their kitchen waste bins every week, the green bin recycling collections have doubled to fortnightly, while garden waste brown bins are emptied fortnightly, as usual for this time of year. This has allowed the black general waste bins to be collected fortnightly instead.

Council research has shown that about 30 per cent of the total weight of what Leeds people put in their black bins is food waste.