Belfast City Council is set to put into place a ban on food waste in black bins. Although it is estimated that this move will cost around £65,000, it is also estimated to save around £800,000 in landfill costs for the Council.
When the ban comes into place, the Council aims to write to householders to inform them of the new provisions. As part of the plan, householders will be warned that their black bins will be monitored. If food waste is found in them, a warning sticker will be placed on the bin. Upon finding food waste on a second occasion in the black bin, a letter will then be sent to the householder. Upon a third offence, the bin will not be emptied by the Council until the food waste has been removed from it.
In order to help householders comply, they will be provided with food waste caddies and compostable bags during a six month transition period. The food waste will then be required to be disposed of via the brown bin.
This move is in response to amendments contained within the Food Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) SR 2015/14, which state that district councils must take reasonable steps to promote the separate collection of food waste and, from 1 April 2017, must arrange for receptacles for every domestic property which enables the separate collection of food waste.
Councillor Matt Garrett, Chair of the Council's People and Communities Committee said, "In Belfast, despite a food waste collection service being available for every household, approximately 25% of the waste in black bins is still food waste. If this waste was diverted into a food waste caddy or brown bin for composting, instead of landfilling, the Council could save around £800,000 each year. Results from neighbouring councils which have adopted this approach already have shown an immediate rise in the amounts of food waste collected of around 20% – which, if applied to Belfast could also contribute around 1% to the city's recycling rate."
