06 : 08 am |10th September 2010

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FINDINGS OF COMPOSTING STUDY POSES ‘QUANDARY’ FOR COUNCILS

19/04/2004

A two-year study into the collection of organic waste from homes has found that making the service free makes it popular with residents but that it can also lead to the creation of more rubbish.

The findings, published today (19th April), pose a quandary for councils wanting to introduce similar schemes to help boost their recycling rates.

The £275,000 study - run in partnership with Bath and North East Somerset Council and funded by the SITA Environmental Trust – set out to evaluate the best way of collecting kitchen and garden waste from homes.

As well as reviewing the results of 38 British, American and European schemes, the study tested different collection methods on 3000 homes in Bath and North East Somerset. The homes were selected to give a range of different household types and locations. In some of the trials a charge was made for collecting garden waste, whilst the collection of kitchen waste was always free.

The West Country trials found that the free collection of garden waste encouraged participation, but also led to a large increase in the amount of waste generated by homes. On rounds where the collection of garden waste was free, the participation rate was 71% (the average home produced 263kg per household per year). This compared to a participation rate of just 10% on rounds where a charge was made (the average home produced 25kg per household per year).

Other key conclusions from the report included:

• Collecting kitchen waste on a weekly basis is more effective than fortnightly.
• Kerbside composting schemes can have a significant impact on overall recycling rates.
• Services provided all year round are more popular and have higher participation rates than services run on a seasonal basis.
• No collection method exceeds the rest in popularity with the public.
• A household’s income level is the single biggest factor influencing the amount of materials composted, rather than their urban or rural location. Participation in the collection service increased with the Council Tax band.
• Contamination of garden and kitchen waste can be significantly reduced if strong enforcement is combined with good communication.

Commenting on the findings Andy Bond, Managing Director of ECT, said:

“These findings clearly pose a quandary for councils. If local authorities want to meet their recycling targets, then the collection of garden waste cannot be ignored. But, if this is done for free, you can end up just encouraging the generation of even more rubbish.

“Dealing with garden waste costs money, so the sector will have to find a middle ground where the collection of garden waste is charged for but at a price residents find acceptable.

“The report shows that a regular service and good communication will make a service popular but that the issue of charging needs to be resolved to avoid creating new problems.”

Commenting on the report Councillor Rosemary Todd, Executive Member for Sustainability and The Environment for Bath and North East Somerset Council, said:

"We in Bath and North East Somerset have a well established recycling service and our residents were happy to support and participate in this trial.

“The lessons learned will help shape the future development of our services, and reflect what we are finding from our own organics collection service."

Kate Engel, Project Manager at SITA Environmental Trust, said:

"The collection trials produced very clear findings. These should be very useful for other local authorities setting up similar schemes."

The Bath and North East Somerset kerbside collection project is one of seven projects operating under the umbrella of the Integrated Composting Programme (ICP) – this £1.5 million initiative which has been created and is being funded by SITA Environmental Trust (SET) through the Landfill Tax credit scheme, supported by financial and in kind contributions from the project partners. The purpose of the scheme is to use the information collated to create a framework for best practice across the waste management industry and in local authorities.

The ICP will focus on seven composting projects, comparing and contrasting the different approaches to composting concentrating on public participation, collection methods, the technology used to produce the compost, and the end use of composted materials in the marketplace.

For a full copy of the report, please go to www.integratedcomposting.org

ENDS