Mid Sussex District Council has thanked the residents taking part in a new food waste collection trial after they recycled more than 29,000 Kilograms (29 Tonnes) of food in the first four weeks.
Residents in the trial areas have embraced the new collection system by placing any food waste they have into a dedicated food waste bin, which is collected from the kerbside every week.
The aim of the trial is to work with residents to boost recycling and reduce the amount of general waste produced. If participants continue to recycle food at the current rate, then potentially over 377,000 Kilograms (377 Tonnes) of food will be removed the rubbish in the trial area and recycled over the course of a year.
Mid Sussex residents in parts of Ashurst Wood, Burgess Hill and Lindfield have been selected to take part in the new waste collection trial. These areas have been chosen because they include a mix of housing types and locations that ensure the trial is representative of the whole of Mid Sussex. The trial will enable Mid Sussex District Council and West Sussex County Council to assess the feasibility of rolling out a similar service across the whole of Mid Sussex.
Councillor John Belsey, Deputy Leader of Mid Sussex District Council said:
“I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who is working with us to trial this new collection system and reduce the amount of food that goes in our general waste bins.
“By collecting our food waste separately we can ensure it is being put to good use. Once collected, it’s taken to a specialist facility and placed in an anaerobic digester, which uses the gas that is produced when the food breaks down to generate energy and turns the left-over material into a soil fertiliser.
“A lorry load of food waste can generate enough renewable energy to power 20,000 televisions for an hour, so recycling it really can make a big difference to our long-term sustainability.
Councillor Deborah Urquhart, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change said:
“Residents have done a tremendous job of recycling their food waste so far and I would like to thank each and every one of them sincerely for their efforts.
“We’ve already received lots of valuable feedback from residents and we will continue to take it all on board as the trial progresses. Your experiences will help us to provide a greener service in the future, with improved recycling rates.”
