Royal Borough Binning 10,000 tonnes of Food a Year
New research commissioned by the council shows that as much as 10,000 tonnes of food in the Royal Borough is binned and ends us in landfill every year.
The Measurement Evaluation Learning Research analysed recycling and refuse bins from 200 households in the Royal Borough over a week last November 2014. The figures were then extrapolated to generate equivalent figures for the whole borough over a year.
Food waste put in general refuse bins and sent to landfill costs local tax payers twice as much to dispose of as the same food waste placed in the Royal Borough's black food waste bins.
Food waste collected in the black caddies is turned into a bio-gas which is then burnt to generate electricity and fed to the National Grid at a nearby plant in Oxfordshire. The residue is used as fertilizer.
And while more than half of us think we don't actually waste any food, the average household throws away around £60 a month of good food.
Food waste at landfill sites also damages the environment as it rots producing harmful greenhouse gas methane.
All types of raw and cooked food can go in the black food caddies.
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