What can be done with food waste that currently goes in the black bin?
The city councils waste management policy approved on 28 February 2007 includes a commitment to introduce measures to recycle kitchen food waste, which represents an estimated 21 per cent of recoverable material (around 40 per cent of a typical black wheelie bins contents). There are currently two main methods of treating kitchen waste: in-vessel composting (IVC), which means using an enclosed heat-treatment system to turn kitchen waste into compost; and anaerobic digestion (AD), which is a process that allows special microbes to feed on the waste and, in the process, produce biogas that can be burned to generate electricity. In April 2009, councillors decided that anaerobic digestion is the best way to treat food waste in Peterborough from an environmental and financial perspective. The procurement of the new facility commenced in May 2009. Investigations into the best methods for collecting food waste are progressing and we expect collection across the city to begin during 2010.
