Bucks aims for even better food recycling

Residents in Buckinghamshire have been noticing stickers appearing on their bins asking them to recycle their food waste. The yellow stickers, designed to stand out, are a simple way to remind people that their food waste is collected every week for recycling right across the county. The stickers are being placed on wheeled bins by collection crews on their normal routes, as part of an initiative by the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire.

Residents who recycle their food already may ask why they have received a sticker. That’s because the initiative is looking to engage with everyone, and even good recyclers can sometimes forget, or don’t know to recycle tea bags, stale bread or chicken bones. It is expected that the stickers will also encourage residents who have never recycled their food to start.

Residents may not be aware that their kerbside food collection is kept separate all the way to the food recycling facility. There it is processed to produce biogas – used to generate electricity – and a high-quality fertiliser used by farmers. Recycling food also saves money on disposal costs – last year more than £440,000 was spent in Bucks disposing of food that could have been recycled.

Bucks County Council deputy cabinet member for planning and environment Clive Harriss, speaking on behalf of the Waste Partnership for Buckinghamshire, said: “First and foremost, the Waste Partnership seeks to help us all reduce our food waste, as it’s much better to eat and enjoy the food we buy. But there’s always some unavoidable food waste, like banana skins or egg shells, which can be recycled. The new stickers are a gentle reminder that most householders can recycle their food at home and we can all recycle a little more.”

To find out more, visit www.recycleforbuckinghamshire.co.uk/food