Celebrate Food Waste Action Week by Reducing and Recycling Your Food Waste

RESIDENTS are being encouraged to get involved with Food Waste Action Week by seeing if they can further reduce their food waste to help protect the environment.

Food Waste Action Week runs from Monday 17 – Sunday 23 March, with the Council offering advice to ensure that everyone is doing as much as they can to make a difference to how they buy food and dispose of leftovers. These include simple steps to reduce food waste such as:

• buying loose fruit and veg – buying loose not only means less use of single use plastic packaging, but also means you buy the right amount of an item instead of a big bag you may not get through
• portioning food correctly – by making sure you cook the right amount and dishing up amounts that will get eaten, less plate or saucepan scrapings need disposing of
• store food properly – keeping certain foods in the fridge or cool cupboards often helps it last longer so you can make good use of it instead of throwing it away

Separating food waste from your general waste has a big impact. By recycling it, households are contributing to the fight against climate change, as recycled food waste reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill or incineration, whilst creating renewable energy and biofertiliser which is then used in local farming.

In Reading, approximately 555 tonnes of food waste are already being recycled every month. Collected food waste is taken to the re3 facility where it is processed and then sent to an anaerobic digestion facility in South Oxfordshire. There it is turned into renewable energy, and biofertiliser, to support local farmlands.

All houses in Reading, and an ever-growing number of flats, have weekly food waste collections. Residents are reminded that in it they can recycle:

• all cooked and uncooked food waste (fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, bread, dairy, eggshells)
• tea bags and coffee grounds
• any out-of-date or mouldy food
• uneaten pet food
• cooking oil (cooled, sealed in a plastic bottle and added to your food waste bin)

To make food waste recycling easier and more hygienic any type of liners can be used, as they are removed during the recycling process. Residents are welcomed to reuse unwanted carrier bags or bread bags or opt for compostable liners or paper bags. Free food waste liners are also currently available at local libraries and leisure centres.

Karen Rowland, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services and Community Safety, said:

“It’s brilliant news that Reading’s residents are recycling over 500 tonnes of food waste every month. But during Food Waste Action Week we’re asking people to see if they can do even more. The national messaging this year is to buy loose, as you’re then in control of how much you buy rather than getting pre-packaged amounts that may be too much.

“Our additional messaging in Reading is to please put all food waste in your recycling caddy. This can include scraping and cleaning out jars to recycle the contents (and then taking the glass to bottle banks), all plate scrapings to save food going into your dishwasher, and tea bags and coffee grounds.

“There’s no need to put any food waste into your grey bin, please recycle it!”