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Free food waste caddy bags at local libraries
08/12/2021
An estimated £2million could be saved if we stopped placing food waste in the general waste bin
Free food caddy bags are being given away in the run up to Christmas to help us deal with the extra food waste that is expected to be generated over the festive period.
From today Oxfordshire County Council is making available rolls of food waste caddy liners at the county’s libraries, including Banbury library in Marlborough Road. Anyone can pop in and pick up a roll, whilst stocks last.
Although Cherwell District Council offers a food waste recycling collection, it is estimated that it costs £2 million countywide to deal with food waste which is placed in the general rubbish bin, rather than enabling it to be recycled by using the food waste bin.
Recycling food waste costs less than a quarter of the price of disposing of it with general rubbish. General rubbish in Oxfordshire is burnt to generate energy which already reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to landfill, but recycling food waste doubles the climate change benefit. The recycling process generates green electricity and a fertiliser that is used on farmland across the county.
Councillor Pete Sudbury, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate change and Environment, said: “After making sure edible food is not wasted in the first place, home composting or recycling food waste using the kerbside collection are the next best thing people can do to reduce the impact of waste disposal on the climate. That’s why we are giving away these caddy liners to make it easier for residents at a time when we know that food waste is likely to increase significantly.
“I would urge people to pop down to their local library and grab a roll while stocks last. Reducing the amount of food waste that ends up in general rubbish could save the council millions of pounds – money that would be better spent on other projects to improve people’s lives.”
Each year the county council recycles nearly 25,000 tonnes of food waste, including vegetable peel, bones, eggshells, plate scapings and used teabags. However, it estimates that a similar amount wrongly ends up in general waste.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam