A Sheffield Food Waste trial is set to begin in the city following councillors backing a proposed trial at a recent Committee meeting. Several areas of the city will receive letters and bins from Veolia shortly.
The Food Waste trial will take place over 12 weeks with a separate food waste collection for approximately 8,000 households. The trial will test real-life experience of operating food waste collections in Sheffield and help plan a permanent food waste collection service across the city.
UK households waste around 6.5 million tonnes of food each year. In 2019, sampling showed that an average of 33% of the contents of Sheffield’s black bins are made up of food waste.
All households within the trial area will receive a 23L caddy, a 5L internal caddy and a roll of 52 recycled, biodegradable plastic caddy liners. Households will be asked to place the plastic liner inside their internal caddy (ordinarily stored in the kitchen) into which they will place their food waste. Once the internal caddy is full or when collection is due, the household will tie the liner and place it inside their 23L external caddy in readiness for collection by Veolia.
Labour Councillor Mike Chaplin, Deputy-Chair: Waste and Street Scene Committee said ‘A new duty on Councils to introduce a separate food waste collection service is due to come into effect in 2024’
‘The council is keen to secure additional funding from Government for the permanent city-wide waste collection service. In the meantime, we are taking an active approach to planning for the changes because the introduction of food waste collections across the city will not be without its’ challenges’.
‘Much as we would have liked to have brought in a comprehensive, permanent food waste collection scheme by now, the repeated cutting of council budgets by governments since 2010 means that we do have to wait for new funding to be released. The government won’t fund any local authority that already has a scheme in place, so by implementing this trial now, we are taking preparatory steps for a full city-wide scheme, but without having to forego the funding for it.’
Notes for the Editor
The Environment Act was enacted into UK Law in November 2021. It creates a new statutory duty for the council requiring the introduction of separate food waste collections for all households, including flats and houses of multiple occupancy, and sheltered accommodation in England at a frequency of no less than one collection per week. Government is expected to award new funding to cover the costs of the new service.
