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In the current climate with local authorities being asked to save money in every way possible, a significant cost saving initiative is the promotion of home composting.
Straight plc, which manages the National Home Composting Framework, has commissioned research from Resource Futures into two key areas. Firstly, the future value provided by modest investments in home composting programmes and secondly into the general level of compost bin take-up to date. Both reports are available as a free download from the Straight plc website.
The research demonstrates that financial savings for local authorities associated with the provision of home composting bins are substantial. Although there are some uncertainties relating to future fuel costs, the status of separate food waste collections and Landfill Tax, the research shows that net savings for a local authority over a 'bin lifetime' of 15 years could be in the region of £190 per bin. Local authorities running a scheme in an area of 50,000 households with high bin distribution potential and providing a modest subsidy to the programme to improve up-take could expect savings of more than £600,000 over the lifetime of the bins.
"Of course, a trade-off exists between levels of bin uptake and the extent to which the public or the local authority pays for the bin," said Dr Julian Parfitt, Research and Technical Director at Resource Futures. "If a local authority subsidises the scheme more heavily, the initial costs are higher, but then the take-up will also be higher."
"In reality, no matter how the local authority approaches this trade-off, according to our research the financial benefits are clear to see. The overwhelming savings made from avoided landfill costs and gate fees outweigh any promotion, distribution or bin subsidy costs within just five years, showing there to be a clear financial case for local authorities to continue the promotion of home composting across the UK."
Following several years of heavy promotion of home compost bins by WRAP there have been suggestions that the market for home compost bins is saturated. A further report from Resource Futures investigates this claim by considering factors that influence the uptake of home-composting bins such as the presence of charged garden waste collection services, age group and home composting participation rates to predict the potential for additional home composting bin distribution across England.
Results show there are still extensive areas with a lot of immediate un-tapped potential for home composting in terms of meeting the demand for home composting bins amongst new recruits and also those households that are already composting at home. Indeed, the statistical model presented in the report offers strong evidence that the market for home composting bins, is far from saturated, particularly considering that the methodology applied is a conservative one. Even those areas that have already pushed home composting can still do more.
"It has been suggested that the home composting market is 'saturated' at 35% of households with gardens participating", added Dr Julian Parfitt, "but there is no reason why a local authority that has achieved this level of participation shouldn't now be pushing towards 45% or 50%. Home composting remains the most cost-effective way for dealing with garden waste and householders that are willing to compost at home should be given every encouragement to get involved and to remain involved."
Chief Executive of Straight plc, Jonathan Straight commented,"This research demonstrates two very powerful points which are of particular interest from a cost-saving perspective. The market is not saturated, meaning that investment in home composting continues to be worthwhile, and modest investments in home composting offer a rapid payback and ongoing return. Investing in home composting generates significant value for money."
"With a National Framework now in place, local authorities have a wide choice of compost bins and can utilise our extensive expertise in promoting and running various types of programme," he added.
In a bid to increase their recycling rates, Oldham Council is further expanding its food waste collection trial. Following a successful pilot scheme, the Council is set to rollout more than 80,000 of Straight's 23 litre Kerbside Caddies.
This year sees Straight return to the CIWM exhibition with a new range of innovative organic waste containers. Straight has further extended its portfolio of food waste containers with the addition of 7 litre and 10 litre Kitchen Caddies in both solid and ventilated versions. Straight now offers a complete range of sizes from 5 litres upwards.
As one of the first cities in Wales to introduce a kerbside recycling scheme, Newport has always been forward thinking when it comes to recycling. Working in partnership with Newport City Council, Wastesavers Recycling has been instrumental in developing the City's successful kerbside collection, which contributed towards Newport being awarded the title of the UK's Greenest City in 2007.
Waste is a precious raw material that should be treated as a resource rather than a problem to be disposed of - that's the message in a new film produced by May Gurney featuring Straight plc's kerbside boxes and food waste caddies in use in Somerset.
The short film shows how source separation and closed-loop recycling is revolutionising the way that waste is handled. The system has been shown to save local government money, significantly reduce carbon emissions, ensure that high prices for recyclable materials are achieved and to help generate local employment.
The documentary features testimonials from May Gurney's recycling customers, including Somerset Waste Partnership - currently the country's top recyclers with a 51% recycling rate - and members of the general public who are enthusiastic about May Gurney's collection schemes.
Nicola Peake, managing director of Environmental Services, comments; "Changing to weekly source separation collections of recycling is a positive step for local authorities and allows food waste collections on the same vehicle. There's a misconception that it's expensive and difficult to implement. With the focus on weekly resource recovery residual waste collection frequencies can be reduced without public resistance."
Following the success of its food waste collection scheme, Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council has chosen Straight's market-leading 23 litre Kerbside Caddy as its container of choice. The Council recently purchased more than 5,000 of the 23 litre Kerbside Caddy along with the Straight 5 litre Kitchen Caddy to replace some existing containers and to further develop the scheme.
New pre-treatment regulations for the disposal of waste under the EU Landfill Directive means there will be an increase in recyclable materials being source separated before collection. Many organisations have had to adapt the way that they dispose of their waste by introducing recycling amenities or expanding their current facilities to ensure that an element of their waste is pre-sorted.
Straight recently supplied Newcastle University with more than 200 Recycling Modules and Colour Coded Bins for use around the campus. Although the University's paper and card recycling rate is already good at 27%, the University realised that they could further reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill if they recycled more and composted their food waste. Newcastle University is currently developing its own Sustainability Strategy and wanted to encourage both employees of the University and its 18,000 students to use the recycling facilities on offer.
To help staff to support their Sustainability Strategy, the University placed the Recycling Modules in staff kitchen areas. These areas have limited space, so the Recycling Modules offered the perfect solution by providing a vertical recycling system with a small footprint. The modules take up little more space than a household bin, yet allow colour-coded source separation of materials. The University is collecting plastic bottles, food and drink cans, mixed glass and food waste in the modules which offer proven health and safety benefits and are easy to empty and clean. Newcastle University is currently in the process of purchasing an in-vessel composter which will enable all food waste to be composted on site.
The University has placed its 60 litre Colour Coded Bins in the communal areas of the site allowing both staff and students to deposit paper, card, newspapers, bottles and cans. Following the installation of the Recycling Modules and Colour Coded Bins, recycling participation rates have increased and they now have very few contamination issues as all collected recyclables are source separated meaning the quality of collected materials has dramatically improved.
Sarah Boulger, Waste Manager for Newcastle University said "We are extremely pleased with our Recycling Modules and Colour Coded Bins and have already placed a further order. Sustainability at the University has increased in importance and recycling is one way of showing our commitment. We hope that by raising awareness of these issues and making a conscious effort to reduce the amount of waste that we send to landfill, a more environmentally friendly thinking will ensue."
Straight plc has won tenders to supply seven local authorities in Wales with food and kitchen waste collection equipment worth approximately £1.42m.
Epsom and Ewell Borough Council have extended their kerbside collection scheme to include the new 50 litre Mini Bin from Blackwall the first Mini Bin order to be fulfilled by the Straight and Blackwall partnership following the merger in January of this year. The merger of the two companies creates a business worth over £20 million, one of the biggest suppliers of containers for recycling and composting in the UK.
The Council currently use the Blackwall 55 litre kerbside boxes and 47 litre blue recycling bags to collect paper and the Mini Bin will be added to reduce assisted collections across the Borough.
The Mini Bin is fitted with 2 heavy-duty wheels, which makes it easy for those who may struggle with the weight of a kerbside box when bringing it to kerbside, therefore reducing the requirement for assisted collections which can be time consuming and costly.
Other features include a close fitting 'throw back' hinged lid and can be supplied with an added steel latch to lock the lid. Available with or without wheels (without wheels reduces the cost per unit and increases the capacity) the Mini Bin's tall upright design takes up minimum floor space allowing residents to keep the bin in a corner of the kitchen or by the back door.
Jon Sharpe, Epsom & Ewell's Recycling Officer explained why he chose the Mini Bin over other containers available on the market: "We chose the 50 litre Mini Bin because it's strong, study and easy to move. It can be left indoors or out and we will be offering them to those residents where we currently collect from the back door so that they can bring the bin to kerbside on collection days."
The Mini Bin can be branded with corporate logos and recycling messages dependent on order quantities. Manufactured to the highest quality standards the Mini Bin is the strongest container of its type on the market and guaranteed for 5 years.
Straight has further extended its food waste range of containers with the addition of a new 22 litre Kerbside Caddy which follows hot on the heels of the successful 5 litre Kitchen Caddy.
With the Scottish Government proclaiming its intention to become a zero waste society by 2025, many Scottish authorities are facing their biggest challenge to date and are exploring new ways to divert more waste away from landfill.
2008 saw Aberdeenshire Council expand its recycling services and become one of the first Scottish authorities to introduce a food waste collection scheme. Aberdeenshire was also the first local authority to use Straight's 23 litre Kerbside Caddy, which has been specifically developed for the collection of food waste and has since become the leading container used for this purpose across the UK.
Following extensive trials in East Sussex, Straight plc is launching the Blackwall Kitchen Composter, which allows householders to compost virtually 100 percent of their organic waste arisings at home.
Straight plc, the AIM quoted supplier of waste and recycling containers, announces the award of a new contract worth £1.44 million to supply home composters and accessories to WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).
The new BagFlag™ is an innovative way for collection crews to correctly identify which properties require replacement liners for their kitchen caddies. BagFlag™ has been developed by Straight in conjunction with Neath Port Talbot Council for its new food waste scheme.
Neath will roll out Straight's 23 litre Kerbside Caddy and 5 litre Solid Kitchen Caddy this autumn to more than 10,000 homes on a trial scheme. The Council has chosen to use compostable liners with their Kitchen Caddies and approached Straight about developing a product that residents could use to indicate when they require more liners.
The Council's design brief was quite specific and strict deadlines were also set to ensure that the scheme was rolled out on time. The Council wanted to ensure that the system was extremely efficient and easy for both residents and collection crews to use. A small indicator attached to the Kerbside Caddy was considered the best option for this purpose to meet all of the Council's requirements.
The unique BagFlag™ fits onto the back handle of the 23 litre Kerbside Caddy providing a permanent and effective way for residents to request liners. BagFlag™ can either be fitted during the production of the Kerbside Caddy or fitted retrospectively and as the flag remains attached to the caddy at all times, it cannot be lost.
Manufactured from tough, flexible, bright yellow rubber, the durable BagFlag™ is fully waterproof making it ideal for outdoor use. Its bright colour means that the flag is also highly visible, even in dark conditions. When attached to the Kerbside Caddy, the BagFlag™ rotates 270 degrees, which enables the flag to be easily flipped up when new liners are needed and discreetly folded away under the handle and out of view when not in use.
Jack Baber, New Product Development Manager at Straight said, "Straight continues to heavily invest in new product development to bring innovative products to market. We work closely with many local authorities to identify their requirements, develop their ideas and make their product suggestions a reality."
Wayne Curtis, Waste Operations Officer for Neath Port Talbot Council said, "We listen to what matters to the residents of Neath Port Talbot and through our successful partnership with Straight, we believe that we have designed a simple, but very effective method of receiving replacement bags. It is important that the collection systems are, whilst effective, easy to use. After reviewing the first phase, the trial will expand over the forthcoming months."
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