Maidstone Borough Council 7
Similar projects, which have been taken place elsewhere in the country, have seen a marked increase in food recycling and we are keen to copy this success.
Marion Ring, Chairman of Communities Housing and Environment Committee, said: “Thank you to everyone who is using the food recycling service each week; however, we are aware that some residents are still throwing most of their food waste in their grey rubbish bins. Food in the grey bin goes straight for incineration which means that this valuable resource is going to waste.
“We want residents to really look at what they are currently throwing away in their rubbish bins and ensure that any food waste, whether it’s raw or cooked, is diverted to their food recycling bin.
“By placing a permanent reminder on every household’s rubbish bin we hope we can stop even more food waste from being incinerated, creating nutrient rich compost for local farms and saving money for our residents.”
Since the scheme started in 2011 in the borough what has been achieved so far?
Residents in the borough of Maidstone have diverted over 26,000 tonnes of food waste from being incinerated by using their food recycling bins.
Do you need a new food recycling bin?
If you need a replacement food recycling bin in order to take part in the service you can order it online at
www.maidstone.gov.uk or by calling our customer contact centre on 01622 602600.
Pictured: Councillor Marion Ring, Chairman of Communities, Housing and Environment
A day in the life of YOUR recycled food
The food recycling that is collected in Maidstone is taken to an in-vessel composting facility in East Malling. Here the food recycling is shredded into smaller pieces then composted on an industrial scale. The organic material is made into a nutrient-rich soil improver. As the composting process happens quite quickly, the resulting compost is still quite coarse and therefore would not be suitable for use in a garden, however it is perfect for use on local farmland.
Food on its recycling journey… Food recycling is collected every week from residents’ homes.
It is taken to Blaise Farm, West Malling. After being visually inspected it is shredded and stored in long heaps and turned regularly to allow air into the food which helps the micro-organisms break down the food into compost.
The mixture must reach a temperature of 60 degrees c. for a minimum of 16 days to kill of any harmful bacteria.
The end product is high quality compost which is used as a nutritious soil improver on local farms.
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