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Bristolians have more than trebled the amount they reuse and recycle over the last ten years, but while many people now recycle their bottles and cereal packets, food waste is lagging behind.
Taxpayers pay £80 per tonne for waste that goes into landfill. 40% of the waste we chuck in the bin in Bristol is food waste. Bristol’s new waste and resource management strategy, which will be discussed by cabinet next week, makes reducing the amount of food waste we chuck in the bin a top priority.
Long term campaigner on reuse and recycling, Councillor Martin Fodor said:
“We have to make it as easy as possible for everyone to reuse, recycle and compost as much as they can. We have made a great start as a city, but we have to step up our game to get more people involved. Any food waste going into bins is a waste of resources, and also a cause of methane and pollution from landfills. It’s only if people take steps to compost it or get the council to treat the waste that these resources can be put back to use fertilising soil or creating energy.”
Green Assistant Mayor in charge of waste, Daniella Radice said:
“In Bristol food waste makes up 40% of the waste going into our black bags. Much of this food waste is avoidable. Every year families in the UK waste £700 throwing away food, mainly because they made too much or haven’t eaten it in time. This is why the council has been running the ‘Feed Me and Win’ competition, where people are rewarded for using food recycling bins.”
“Bristol’s new waste and resource management strategy makes increasing food waste recycling a key priority. It also proposes a new vision for how we use our resources and think about waste. It is irresponsible to use vast amounts of energy and resources producing products which are then just chucked into landfill. Instead we need a duel approach of preventing and reducing the waste we produce and then repairing, re-using, recycling and composting as much waste as possible.”