Cheshire East Council announces new food waste recycling service starting in January

A new food waste recycling service for Cheshire East residents will start in January 2020.

From 6 January, people will start to receive a small green food caddy. This will enable food waste to be separated easily from the rest of everyday household waste.

Residents can start using their caddy as soon as they receive it. An initial supply of biodegradable liners will be provided with the caddy. However use of these is optional.

Once the caddy is full the food waste goes directly into the garden waste bin along with garden waste, with or without a liner.

Garden waste bins will be collected every two weeks. Residents should refer to the new collection calendars, that were sent to all households, for details of their collection schedule. Copies of these calendars can also be downloaded at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/bins

The council is committed to making our community a greener, cleaner place and has acted on residents concerns about recycling and food waste. This recycling service will reduce the amount of food going to waste and make a difference to our environment.

Ralph Kemp, Cheshire East Council’s head of environmental services, said: “The council is committed to providing increased opportunities for recycling and to treat waste more sustainably. Recycling food waste rather than disposing of it in your black bin is the right thing to do, as it enables us to recycle it into high-quality compost and return the organic matter to the soil. 

“From January, collected mixed food and garden waste will be taken to a special processing plant in Crewe, where it will be recycled into compost, which is used in horticulture and agriculture.

“We are pleased to offer this new food waste recycling service but continue to encourage residents to explore ways of reducing food waste though our ‘Love Food, Hate Waste Campaign’. We encourage those with space to continue to compost at home with suitable garden and vegetable peelings.

“We also want to thank residents for all they are doing to reduce waste and reuse or recycle where possible.”

Rotting food waste produces methane, which contributes to climate change. It costs twice as much to dispose of food waste in a black bin – ­ as it does to recycle food waste.

Full details of the new service and what can and can’t be put into the food caddy are shown in the resident’s magazine  – The Voice. This magazine will start to arrive with households from 18 November and within this is an eight page, pull-out and keep, food waste booklet. 

A new ‘Waste Watchers’ app can be downloaded from the Apple or Google Play stores, which gives advice, collection day information and news about food waste and all waste collection services. Users can also sign up for alerts, such as notifications about a  missed collection due to bad weather.

The recent changes to bin collection days across Cheshire East were in preparation for this new food waste recycling service and to make improvements and efficiencies to the collection services.

Residents are urged not to place food waste in their garden bins until they receive the caddy in the new year.

Information and reminders about the collection changes and the new service, starting in January 2020, will feature on Cheshire East Council’s social media pages. Please follow @CheshireEastCouncil on Facebook and @CheshireEast on Twitter to keep up-to-date.