BRACKNELL Forest residents will be getting food waste bins after councillors confirmed plans to go ahead with the extra collection service.
All houses will receive a lockable five-litre indoor caddie and a 23-litre outdoor caddy for the weekly food-waste collection service, which starts on Monday, October 5.
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Councillor Dorothy Hayes, Bracknell Forest Council’s (BFC) environment boss, said: “This is exactly what the general public want.
“We are going forward and we can say we are doing the things we said we would do regarding climate change.”
BFC bosses hope introducing the new collection service will lead to an improvement on the borough's current recycling rate of 40 per cent.
The recycled waste will be used to produce renewable energy and turned into fertiliser.
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This means almost 4,000 fewer tonnes of waste is sent to landfill.
Currently, 42 per cent of all waste put in residents’ green general waste bins is food waste.
Councillor Marc Brunel-Walker added: “All 42 per cent of food waste is going straight into a whole into the ground.
“It’s not sustainable in the short, medium or the long term and it’s costing a fortune just to bury stuff.
“We have to be able do more with our food waste, but we also have to encourage our residents to do more recycling.”
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The new food waste bins will be collected weekly, meaning the fortnightly green bin general waste collection will now become a three-weekly service to offset the cost of food waste collection.
Members of BFC’s top team pointed to the “challenges” that might come with the “new changes”, but also outlined their confidence residents “will get behind this”.
Cllr Dale Birch added: “Not everyone is going to welcome this with open arms.
“One of the things I am pleased to see is the way we have put together a programme of help and assistance so for those who do have their doubts and for who change isn’t easy can get the support and help they like.”
Large families of six or more and those residents with a medical need can qualify for a second refuse bin if they need to put out extra waste.
A “weekly absorbent hygiene product collection” will be provided alongside the three-weekly refuse collection in order to collect nappies and incontinence pads from residents with a “significant need”.
The executive met to confirm the plans at a meeting on Tuesday, January 28.
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