Solihull MBC’s Scrutiny Committee will discuss the introduction of a weekly food waste collection. The committee will also therefore consider aligning with the majority of authorities in the UK and reduce the frequency of household waste collections in the borough. Currently, over 30% of residents’ non-recyclable waste is food waste, so it is proposed that the introduction of a weekly food waste collection will more than compensate for the reduction from a weekly to fortnightly rubbish collection.
To support the introduction of the weekly food waste collection it is proposed that the Council provides all households with a free 7-litre food waste caddy for their kitchen and a free 23- litre caddy to present at the kerbside. Householders living in flats will be provided with a kitchen caddy and a shared communal container.
It is proposed that the collections will be carried out by a dedicated food waste collection fleet powered by hydrotreated/hydrogenated vegetable oil, using funding from the UK government (Defra). The collected food waste will be processed at an anaerobic digestion facility to produce both a nutrient rich substance for use as fertiliser in agriculture/horticulture and a biogas which can be used to generate electricity.