Each year in Guildford we throw away around 12,000 tonnes of cooked and uncooked food. Thats a staggering amount and over a quarter of all the waste we send to landfill from the borough. Once in a landfill site the food helps to generate methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Consequently we are soon to introduce a new trial in which we will collect food waste separately from the rest of the rubbish. Once collected the food will be sent to a specialist plant where it will be turned into compost.

We will be writing to residents in the trial area soon with more details of the scheme. Each resident on the trial will receive a small caddy to keep in the kitchen, along with a container with a lockable lid in which to store their waste food outside prior to weekly collection. This will have the added benefit of removing smelly food from their blacks sacks that can sometimes attract foxes and rodents.

If the trial is a success we will be looking to expand it across the borough at some point in the future as this could have the potential to increase our recycling rate substantially.

If you are not fortunate enough to be included in the trial you might like to consider obtaining a green cone which can handle all your food waste in your own garden. These are available for just £5 (while stocks last) form our depot in Woking Road. Call our hotline on 01483 444499 for further details. Or perhaps a bit of good old-fashioned portion control might help? After all it is estimated that each of us in the UK spends up to £424 each year on food that ends up in the bin!