Crawley residents have embraced the borough’s new food waste collection service, with almost 200 tonnes of food waste collected in just the first three weeks.
Early figures show strong participation from households across the town, marking a promising start for the initiative aimed at reducing waste and encouraging more environmentally friendly recycling habits.
The service, introduced to individual households across the borough last month as part of the government’s Simpler Recycling reforms, provides residents with an easy way to recycle more of their household waste. Once collected, food waste is sent to an anaerobic digestion plant, where it is transformed into renewable energy and fertiliser for local farms.
Early data suggests that around three-quarters of households are already taking part in the scheme, demonstrating strong support from residents. During the first three weeks, approximately 197 tonnes of food waste were collected, highlighting the positive impact the service is already having.
Councillor Nick Hilton, Cabinet member for Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change at Crawley Borough Council, said:
“The introduction of food waste collections is the biggest change to our waste and recycling service in many years, so it's extremely encouraging to see such a positive response from residents in the first few weeks.
“With nearly 200 tonnes collected in the first three weeks, the scheme is already making a real difference. While it is still early days, these results show that Crawley is making a strong start towards increasing recycling rates and reducing waste. We'd like to thank everyone for their patience and support as crews continue to settle into their new collection rounds.”
For more information about the food waste collection service, visit www.crawley.gov.uk/foodwaste.