Food recycling boxes rolled out to eat up waste

MORE recycling bins are on their way for households across the Capital after council bosses revealed plans to collect food waste alongside other household rubbish.

The city's environment leader has confirmed Edinburgh is looking at a collection scheme similar to those currently in operation elsewhere in the UK.

If approved, the scheme would see city residents supplied with plastic boxes which would be collected on a weekly basis, adding to those already handed out for newspapers, packaging and garden waste.

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It comes as a survey by Keep Scotland Beautiful found that two-thirds would be in favour of such a scheme.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, Edinburgh's environment leader, said: "The recent Keep Scotland Beautiful survey found that two two-thirds of respondents would be willing to use a food waste collection.

He said: "This is something we are seriously considering and will be making an announcement as soon as we can.

"As residents of Edinburgh we should all be proud of the beautiful city we live in.

"We need to use the excellent services that are in place to recycle more, and more often – even a small change in behaviour can make a huge difference.

"The collection of food waste will be an important part of our waste strategy as food accounts for about 20 per cent of the total waste stream we manage.

"We are considering the options for the collection of food waste taking into account a number of factors, including the range of housing types we have in Edinburgh as well as the treatment options for changing it into a useful product.

"We will also take into account the collection pilots being run in other parts of the country and the views of the Scottish Government when they publish their Zero Waste Plan."

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It is likely the bins – which allow for the recycling of most foodstuffs as well as tea bags and coffee grounds – would dramatically reduce the amount of waste currently being sent to landfill in the city.

Iain Gulland, director of the Zero Waste Scotland initiative, said: "

There is potential both to reduce food waste and to treat unavoidable food waste as a resource."

The local authority has to meet an ambitious 38.6 per cent target next year for the amount of waste which is recycled. The figure currently stands at 31.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the city has launched a new fleet of recycling vehicles carrying the slogans "EDENburgh" and "EdinbURGH".

Your Say: Would a fourth recycling bin for food waste be excessive?

George Fraser, 67, retired, Gracemount: "It would be a stinking idea. It would have to be emptied every day."

Sheila Fraser, 47, publican, Dalkeith: "Yes, especially if food was sitting for two weeks in between collections."

Kate Brown, 30, nurse, Polwarth: "It would be great for composting, but I cannot see how the collections could keep up with the speed at which the bins would be filled."