Residents help Council save more than half a million pounds through support of food waste service

As National Recycling Week (14 to 20 October) begins, the Council is thanking residents who already use the service, for generating 4,440 tonnes of food waste since it was introduced almost 12 months ago. The Council also wants to encourage others to take part and recycle more in their daily lives.

If residents are yet to use the service, they can get started by ordering two caddies, five-litre caddy for indoors and 23 litre for outdoors, from the Council's website.

Food waste can be put loose in the caddies, or residents can use a plastic or biodegradable bag to line it. When the small indoor caddy is full, residents should empty the contents into the outdoor caddy, and put it out for 6.30am on their collection day.

The Council is also encouraging local people to make sure they correctly sort their recycling boxes and reusable blue bag. This makes sure that only the right items are being included and also allows refuse collectors to work more efficiently.

Residents should place all paper and card products into one box, this could include paper, broken up cardboard, non-metallic cards and wrapping paper, junk mail, leaflets, catalogues, magazines, newspapers booklets or envelopes.

In another box put all glass products, including glass bottles and jars.

The Council also collects plastic recyclable materials every fortnight. Residents should place plastics and metal recycling (such as tins) into their reusable blue bag.

Residents are also asked to put their plastic films, plastic bags and wrappings in the wheelie bin or take it to a local supermarket for specialist recycling.

By sorting plastic waste correctly, residents will be supporting the Council’s new investment in a recycling operator and baler at the Waterside depot. Due to become operational later this month, the new machine will allow the Council’s recycling services to more effectively sort plastics and metals. This will lead to a higher quality of recycling material available ensuring a better environmental outcome and less cost to the Council.

When soft plastic packaging is incorrectly recycled, this can lead to the new equipment running at reduced speed, while also reducing the overall quality of the recycling material.

To effectively recycling soft/flexible plastics, residents can take them to most Swindon supermarkets. Recycle Now's Recycling Locator allows people to check which supermarkets collect them.

Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and the Environment, said: “We want to be as responsible as we can and, although we’re in a great position in that we send so little waste to landfill, we could make things even better if we recycled more of our waste, including both food and plastics. 

“Recycle Week is the perfect opportunity to highlight the ways residents can reduce, reuse and recycle everyday items. The WRAP website is packed with tips and ideas.

“Thank you to everyone who has supported our new food waste collection service since it has been introduced, helping us achieve a greener Swindon.”