Sutton Council considers food waste plans (From Epsom Guardian)

Sutton Council considers food waste plans

4:26pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in News By James Pepper

Waste not want not: Sutton Council unveils food waste plans

Food will never go to waste again if Sutton Council gets a share of a £250m from the Government.

Sutton residents could see a new weekly food waste collection service introduced.

At the first meeting of the new Environment and Neighbourhood Committee, councillors agreed to apply for a share of £250m the Department for Communities and Local Government.

A food waste collection trial of 2,500 homes has proved popular with residents so the council is set to prepare a formal bid for funding to roll it out across the borough.

The move would increase Sutton's overall recycling rate from 38 per cent to 43 per cent over the five years of the scheme, and help the council's ambition of recycling 70 per cent of the borough's waste by 2025.

Councillor Jill Whitehead said: "We understand how important a reliable, weekly waste collection service is to our residents which is why, unlike many councils, we looked for innovative solutions to protect weekly collections.

"As a result we're in a position to apply for funding to make our waste service even better."