Portsmouth homes to be given new bins to reduce food waste

RESIDENTS will have to sort their food refuse from other rubbish in a £189,000 trial, after it was revealed city homes waste more food than the average UK household.
By Fiona Callingham
Published 28th Feb 2019, 14:39 BST
Updated 28th Feb 2019, 15:40 BST
Cllr Dave Ashmore outside the Guildhall with the new food waste caddiesCllr Dave Ashmore outside the Guildhall with the new food waste caddies
Cllr Dave Ashmore outside the Guildhall with the new food waste caddies

As a result houses in some areas of Portsmouth will receive two food bins - known as caddies - this summer, one for the kitchen and one for collection, to test the scheme that will run as a pilot for six months.

Today Portsmouth City Council's environment boss, Councillor Dave Ashmore, approved the trial that will affect 8,000 homes. 'I am delighted to approve the food waste collection trial in Portsmouth,' he said.

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'It is important that we do whatever we can to reduce waste and recycle more and I am keen to see what impact the trial will have on reducing waste in the city.'

It comes after council research showed 40 per cent of all black bag rubbish in Portsmouth was food waste. And 75 per cent of that food waste was in fact edible.

This is higher than the UK average of 70 per cent of wasted food, as found by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in 2015. The other 30 per cent includes inedible waste such as tea bags, chicken bones and egg shells.

Colette Hill, the council's service manager, explained how the new bins could reduce waste. She said: 'Just over 40 per cent of black bag waste is food waste in Portsmouth. And 30 per cent of that is excess food that is just not eaten.

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'When people see how much they're throwing away it will encourage them to reduce their waste because they will think "that's a lot". And 40 per cent is one of the highest percentages of food waste in the country.'

It is estimated the project will cost the council £189,000. This includes supplying homes with the caddies, employing an extra crew and hiring a new vehicle, evaluating and promoting the scheme and disposal costs at the nearest food waste plant in Dorset.

The proposed trials will be carried out in parts of Drayton and Cosham, Somers Town, Old Portsmouth, Portsea, Southsea, Eastney and Baffins.

A list of roads involved in the scheme will be available online soon with further details on the specifics available in the coming weeks.

If the scheme is successful it could be made permanent and rolled out to other areas of the city.

Related topics:Old PortsmouthResidentsPortsmouth City CouncilDorset