Cornwall Council is calling on residents to increase their participation in food waste recycling, highlighting its significant environmental benefits and the potential for resource recovery. Councillor Loic Rich, portfolio holder for environment and climate change, expressed satisfaction with the current engagement but stressed the need for greater effort to meet ambitious recycling goals.
"We're living on a planet that we've damaged with pollution and it's time now to take a bit more responsibility," Rich stated. "It's just another thing we don't really want to be chucking away to get burnt in the incinerator when it can actually be reused and put to good use."
Analysis of household waste in Cornwall revealed that food constitutes approximately 22% of black bag rubbish. Notably, 43% of this food waste is still in its original packaging. Rich hopes that increased awareness of the advantages of food waste recycling will lead to a reduction in this figure.
"I'm just saying to people, if you're not doing your food waste, have a think about all the benefits - it's worth it," he urged. "At the moment, we're just over 50%. I'd like to get to 65% by 2029 but we can only do that if people in Cornwall help."
Over the past two years, Cornwall Council has reported recycling approximately 36,000 tonnes of food waste. The council aims to further improve these figures, emphasizing that increased resident participation is crucial for achieving the 65% target by 2029. The process of recycling food waste contributes to a more sustainable approach to waste management, turning potential landfill or incinerator material into valuable resources.