Kerb-Side Collection Of Food By 2009

THE Future of the waste collection service in South Oxfordshire will include the collection of food waste in a separate bin for households.
South Oxfordshire District Council considered the Cabinet?s recommendations at its meeting last Thursday (15/11) regarding the case for changing the way in which the Council collects waste from 2009, when it will enter into a new contract for waste management.

The rationale behind collecting food waste and then composting it is that by doing so, the amount of rubbish sent to landfill can be reduced – in South Oxcfordshire’s case, by up to 5,000 tonnes a year.

Food waste is:
fruit and vegetables
vegetable and fruit peelings
cooked and uncooked food
plate scrapings (scraps)
meat and fish (including bones)
egg shells
dairy products (for example cheese and yoghurt)
tea bags and coffee grounds

Thame District Cllr, David Dodds moved and Mr P Greene seconded the recommendations of Cabinet and resolved to:

1. approve the following collection services as part of the new waste collection contract to start in 2009:
a) weekly separate collection of food waste from a kerbside bin
b) fortnightly residual waste collection from a wheeled bin
c) fortnightly opt-in charged for garden waste collection from a wheeled bin
d) kerbside collection of dry recycling (at least fortnightly collection)
e) kerbside collection of glass (at least fortnightly collection).
2. approve the Household Waste Action Plan, which forms part of a report of the Head of Environmental Services to Cabinet on 1 November 2007.
3. authorise the Head of Environmental Services, in consultation with the Cabinet member responsible for environmental services, to draw up the detailed contract specification within the broad scope outlined in the report to Cabinet on 1 November 2007.
4. approve the advertising of two separate contracts for Waste Collection and Street Cleansing whilst still enabling contractors to bid for a combined contract.
5. add