Peterborough council expects food waste recycling growth

The Cambridgeshire council is now providing free food waste bags to encourage resident recycling

Peterborough City Council is expecting a sharp rise in the amount of food waste being sent for recycling by residents after changing the free food caddy bags from biodegradable to plastic.

The county of Cambridgeshire council said its already noticed a 25 per cent increase in the amount of food waste being sent for recycling. The council hopes that overall food waste recycling will now rise by 90 tonnes per month.

Residents living within the Peterborough City Council boundaries are now being supplied with a roll of 40 new 7-litre high-density polyethylene (HDPE) liners, which can themselves be easily recycled. The free plastic sacks are designed to encourage residents to recycle their food waste rather than throw it away with their general household waste.

Amy Nebel, the recycling officer from Peterborough City Council, said the free plastic food waste bags are a cost-effective way of increasing the district’s food waste recycling, as the new sacks are much cheaper that the previous biodegradable bags.

The council hopes to save around £60,000 per year, if residents continue to recycle their food waste at the increased rate. Each roll of HDPE bin liners comes with an order tag, so residents can order more for free when they are running low.

The food waste produced in the Peterborough district is sent to a Biogen AD renewable energy plant, where its is processed to create energy for the national grid and to create agricultural fertiliser.

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