MORE and more food waste in Milton Keynes is to be recycled after a successful pilot scheme to cut down on rubbish going to landfill.
The 1,000 home trial, which started in 2005, was carried out by Milton Keynes Council in Newport Pagnell and Bradwell Common to find out the best way to encourage residents to recycle their leftover food.
And it has proved to be so successful, with nearly 60 per cent of people taking part in the test areas, that it is to be expanded from next month (April) and will be used to generate electricity from methane gas.
This success comes in the light of a study issued by Wrap (Waste and Resources Action Programme) last week that highlighted how Britons waste more than 3.3 billion tonnes of food a year - the majority of which ends up in landfill.
The pilot scheme in Milton Keynes is now to be increased by a further 500 homes in Newport Pagnell.
Residents are being encouraged to collect food waste in a special recycling bin that is collected once a week from the doorstep.
From April the food waste will be sent to Biogen's anaerobic digestion plant in Bedford where it will be combined with animal slurry to produce green energy and fertiliser.
It works by placing the food waste and slurry into a digester (a warmed sealed airless container) for up to 30 days. The materials ferment to produce methane gas and a liquid .
The methane is fed into a gas engine which generates electricity, this is then sold onto the National Grid. The liquid is returned to the farms for use as an organic fertiliser. In one year the plant can produce sufficient electricity to power 1,000 homes continually.
While in Bradwell Common a combined food waste and garden waste collection to 400 homes was tested with equal success. A further 135 homes and 32 flats are to be added to the scheme. This mixed waste will be used solely as a fertiliser.
MKC waste strategy manager Gill King, who is coordinating the project, said: "The food waste trial has had a positive impact on the amount of waste that finally ends up in landfill."
Cllr Douglas McCall, cabinet member responsible for recycling, said: "As a council we recognised at an early stage we need to recycle our waste.
"This food waste scheme alongside our campaign to promote home composting are good examples of the way we are looking at many different ways to cut the amount of waste that ends in landfill."
MKC, which is recognised as a leading local authority for recycling, has also run a home composting campaign distributing more than 26,000 composters - more than 3000 were sent out to homes last year alone.
Paul Mocroft, waste reduction officer for MKC, said: "Home composting is just another way we can all care for our environment by reducing the amount of waste going to landfill and the subsequent energy used to dispose of that waste.
"This year there are now three compost bins available at £8, £10 and £20 all with free delivery.
www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/compost ."
The report by Wrap also found that more than 15p of each £1 spent on food is wasted and that about one-fifth of our carbon emissions are related to the production, processing, transport and storage of food.
If you are interested in finding out about how to compost your food waste then call MKC on 0845 0770757.
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