Arun District Council to introduce weekly food waste and Absorbent Hygiene Products collections...
Arun District Council to introduce weekly food waste and Absorbent Hygiene Products collections as part of new recycling trial
On 16 November, the Council’s Cabinet agreed to proceed, in partnership with West Sussex County Council, with a trial collection service that includes weekly food waste and Absorbent Hygiene Product collections, such as nappies and incontinence waste.
Arun District Council will become the first district in West Sussex to trial weekly food waste and Absorbent Hygiene Products (AHP) collections, as part of an enhanced recycling and rubbish service.
The trial service will use a ‘1-2-3’ collection system, as follows:
- Introducing weekly food waste collections and an optional, free subscription service of Absorbent Hygiene Product collections e.g. nappies and incontinence waste;
- Retaining existing fortnightly recycling collections and the garden waste charged, subscription service. Small electrical items will be also collected fortnightly.
- Three weekly general rubbish collections in new 240ltr wheelie bins.
Potential areas for the trials are currently being reviewed with the collection contractor, Biffa. It is likely that approximately 1,150 households will be selected covering different housing types and demographics This is important to ensure the trials deliver a representative set of findings.
Direct communication with those residents involved will take place well ahead of the trial’s proposed start date. The trial will last for a year and feedback from residents throughout, will be crucial.
Councillor Samantha-Jayne Staniforth, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services said: “In Arun, the average household rubbish collections are made up of more than 42% food waste and the evidence from other areas of the country is clear that food waste collections can increase recycling and reduce general waste and carbon emissions, something that I feel passionately about.
“When food waste is collected separately, an anaerobic digester can use the gas that is produced when the food breaks down to generate energy and turn the left-over material into a soil fertiliser.
“With weekly food waste and absorbent hygiene product collections, the amount of general rubbish produced will be much less and almost all of the potentially ‘smelly’ materials will be removed. This is an enhanced service trial with extra collections, and I am interested to hear the feedback from those that will be involved in the trial.”
The trial will be run in partnership with West Sussex County Council.
West Sussex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor Deborah Urquhart said:
“In December 2018, the Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy for England. The Strategy proposes implementation of separate food waste collections from all households, from 2023 and it is therefore likely that all authorities will be statutorily required to separately collect food waste within the next 3 years.
“This 1-2-3 trial is the first of its type to take place in West Sussex. Our aim is to gain valuable feedback from residents, enabling a full review to assist in re-shaping and enhancing rubbish and recycling collections for the district and across the County in the future.”
More information can be found on the Arun District Council Website https://www.arun.gov.uk/123-collection-trial