Coventry is set to introduce food waste collections within the next year.
At present Coventry Council provides a bi-weekly food waste collection and recycling service for those who pay for green waste collections. Those who do not pay have to put their food waste into their rubbish bins, where it is burnt but not recycled.
However, under new Government regulations, the city has to move to a specific free food waste collection service.
As part of a government policy called “Simpler Recycling”, all local authorities now need to provide the same recycling provision. This includes a bin for non recycled waste; a bin for paper, card, plastic, metal and glass (at least) and a bin for food waste.
These rules come into operation this April for larger businesses, hospitals and schools and April 2026 for householders. For smaller businesses, with less than ten employees, they come into operation in April 2027.
The Council has set up a Food Waste Board to oversee the detailed planning of the changeover.
The Council has received funding of £1.8 million from the Government to cover the cost of purchasing vehicles and containers. It is also anticipating receiving additional funding to cover the operating costs.
The Council has purchased ten 12 tonne food waste collection vehicles which are due to arrive in May or June.
They have also ordered 141,000 food waste caddies with 23litre capacity. Delivery of these to a storage facility in the city has already started. It is also proposed to send a leaflet about the new scheme to every household in the city.
The food waste from the city will be treated by a company called Biogen, which has an Anaerobic Digestion Facility based in Merevale near Atherstone. The facility is capable of processing 45,000 tonnes of food waste per year.
The next steps include the agreement of the planned start date, recruitment, routing and the preparation of a communications plan.