Edinburgh City Council launches food waste recycling drive

Published on Tuesday, 23 November 2010 14:16

Posted by Scott Buckler

Households across Edinburgh are to be given a helping hand in recycling their food waste under a newly-announced council schemeEdinburgh City Council estimates that around 50,000 tonnes of food are currently thrown out every year from homes across the Scottish capital.

In order to address this, the local authority has now confirmed that it is to issue some 20,000 households with sealed and lockable boxes into which they can empty food waste for recycling.

The boxes will then be collected once a week, with the council's environmental leader Robert Aldridge explaining that by shifting people's behaviour, it should be possible to hit the target of increasing recycling rates in the city to 75 per cent by 2020.

"Lowering the amount of rubbish we send to landfill is everyone's responsibility. It reduces waste, helps the environment and saves money," he said.

At the same time, Flintshire County Council has added a further two trucks to its five-strong fleet of food waste collection vehicles.

Source: ©EST