South Shropshire food waste collection anniversary

Over 750 tonnes of food waste from Ludlow homes and businesses will go to the town's Biodigester rather than landfill in the next twelve months.

On the 14 May 2008 it will be 12 months since the weekly kerbside food waste collection service around Ludlow started.

Blue bins are now a regular sight in town, as is the electric vehicle that collects food waste once a week from homes and takes it to the Coder Road biodigester. Support from householders in Ludlow continues to grow, and the feedback remains positive since the Council introduced small compostable food waste sacks and airtight mini-bins to the town to help residents collect kitchen waste, which can be put out for weekly kerbside collection in larger blue food waste bins.

"Householders have commented that now that food waste can be separated into its own kitchen mini-bin they can see how much is being wasted. This makes them aware of how much food they are throwing away, and they tell us are now more selective with their weekly shopping," says Cllr Nick Barclay, the Council's Lead Member for the Environment. "Recent published figures suggest that for every four bags of shopping that a household buys, the equivalent on one bagful of food will be thrown away."

"By using the weekly food waste collection system, Ludlow householders are able to see how much waste they produce and alter their buying habits accordingly," added Cllr Rosanna Taylor-Smith. "Even though there will always be food waste to deal with, the residents of Ludlow can be proud of their efforts in diverting food waste away from landfill sites where it would be contributing to greenhouse gases."

Michael Chesshire of Biocycle South Shropshire Ltd, which operates the biodigester, said: "Ludlow has shown itself to be at the forefront of pioneering work in the weekly collection of food waste and its recycling into electricity and biofertiliser through the process of anaerobic digestion."

"In a period when there are major concerns about energy prices, energy security, food prices and food security as well as climate change, the biodigester is proving its credentials as a local, low-carbon technology. Biocycle looks forward to another successful year with its demonstrator project and is very appreciative of the positive involvement from households in Ludlow."

Background:

The dedicated weekly food waste collection provides a richer and more effective feedstock for the biodigester process, which requires a high proportion of food waste in its 'diet' in order to operate at peak efficiently.

The digester turns waste food into biogas, which is used to generate electricity, and into sterile liquid and solid material - biofertiliser - that is used as soil conditioner. Some of the electricity generated by the biodigester is used to recharge the food waste collection vehicle's batteries; any surplus electricity can be sold on as sustainable, 'green' electricity.

The pilot project reveals that in Ludlow each household is throwing out an average 2.5 kgs of food waste each week. This adds up to 572 tonnes per year that is being diverted away from landfill and into the biodigester. 64 businesses in Ludlow are also taking advantage of a free food waste collection service, and are now diverting their food waste from landfill to the biodigester. The average collection is a staggering sixty-two and a half kilograms per business per week - that works out around 200 tonnes a year.

Using a dedicated vehicle for weekly food waste collections is only viable in more densely populated areas; so Ludlow was chosen as the pilot. The success of the project means that the Council plans to roll out weekly food waste collections to Craven Arms and Church Stretton later this year.

Issued by South Shropshire District Council - 15 May 2008