Food waste collection trial to start in Horsham

‘Selected households’ in the district will be taking part in the new scheme which will see them placing waste in four bins - with the general rubbish landfill waste being collected every three weeks, instead of the current fortnightly service.

Around 100 households will be taking part in the 12-week trial, which starts on September 29, including families, people living alone and people living in flats.

The trial service will entail weekly food waste collections and an optional, free subscription service of absorbent hygiene product collections, if required such as nappies and incontinence waste.

The existing fortnightly recycling (blue-top bin) collections and garden waste subscription service will continue as normal.

General waste (green-top bin) will be collected every three weeks, based, says the council, on trial participants having substantially less waste to dispose of as a result of their food waste being collected separately and other recently-introduced collection services such as textiles, small electricals and household batteries.

The council says all residents selected to take part in the trial and receive kerbside collections will be given free bins, including a lockable food waste recycling bin and a ‘handy kitchen caddy.’

Residents who live in flats will be supplied with a free kitchen caddy and their bin stores will be upgraded to collect food waste and AHPs.

The council says the trial has been developed as a result of resident feedback saying people would like separate food waste collections amid concerns about the impact of food waste on the climate.

A council spokesperson said: “This trial will be crucial in helping us to fully understand how we can improve the way we deliver future recycling and waste collections and establish the most appropriate frequency of collections and size of bins to effectively meet residents’ needs.”

Horsham District Council cabinet member for the environment Philip Circus: “We are really excited to see the introduction of this food waste trial. We have looked at the results of our waste composition analysis and it has shown us that food waste makes up on average, 42 per cent of the waste currently put out for collection in green-top bins.

“So the trial results should provide us with an accurate picture of just how much food waste and AHP’s we can divert away from the normal residual waste stream.”

The trial is one of the first of its type to take place in West Sussex.

“Our aim is to gain valuable feedback from residents throughout the trial period, enabling a full review to assist in re-shaping and enhancing waste and recycling collections for the district in the future,” said Councillor Circus.

“No decision has been made on the future pattern of waste collections but this trial should pave the way to building upon our current great recycling record.”

Collected food waste will be taken to an anaerobic digester which will break it down into biofertiliser for use on land, and a biogas, which can be used for generating energy.

See www.horsham.gov.uk/foodwaste