Date published: 2008/09/17
The BBC says:
The government's waste advisers are claiming success for a pilot project in which households had their food waste collected separately and composted.
They say 4,272 tonnes of food waste were diverted from landfill, preventing the release of 1,967 tonnes of CO2.
Nineteen English local authorities experimented with ways of collecting food waste from 94,000 households.
In the majority of areas, more than 70% of people agreed to separate their food waste for composting.
The average food waste collection was between 0.3kg and 2.2kg.
There have been widespread reports of dissatisfaction from households around the country as councils have begun the great shift away from traditional weekly bin collections. But the advisers, known as WRAP, say the response to the food waste trial is encouraging.
...
Of the non-participants interviewed, a common reason for not taking part was that residents felt that they did not produce enough food waste to make it worthwhile.However, WRAP research in the recent "The Food We Waste" report shows that even households claiming that they generate no food waste at all produce, on average, 2.9kg per week.
So WRAP claims "the average food waste collection was between 0.3kg and 2.2kg". That's not a very precise average. Let's say 1.3kg for the sake of the argument. Yet WRAP also claims that "even households claiming that they generate no food waste at all produce, on average, 2.9kg per week", so presumably the average household wastes much more. So the 1.3kg is pathetic in comparison. And how much extra fossil fuel was consumed collecting this pathetic little amount from each and every household?
In Cambridge, as in many local authorities, there is an every-other-week green bin collection in which all organic waste, not just food waste, can be placed. Why should anyone be impressed that some local authorities have had a trial of just collecting food waste?
All in all, this story rather reads just like a press release from WRAP. No doubt these chaps are doing a splendid, just splendid, job. But does the BBC have to give them free air time to announce this?
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