Organic waste pilot progress

Fordwych Road and many surrounding roads have been piloting the Council's door-to-door organic waste recycling scheme over the past couple of months.  At the full Council meeting at the beginning of November Nancy asked the Executive member for Environment for an update on the pilot and any lessons learned.
The minutes have just been released and are copied below.
The department are clearly not giving away very much at this stage - but if the council can get it right - a new organic waste collection will be a great step forward in our efforts to make Camden a more sustainable place.

QUESTION 7 (Oral)

TO THE:        Executive Member for Environment

BY:                 Councillor Nancy Jirira

What lessons are being learnt from the current trials of organic waste collections that are being piloted in parts of Fortune Green? Are the participation rates in the scheme as expected– and how can we further encourage people to make maximum use the new service in the future?

REPLY:
The food and garden waste pilot extended in August 2009 now covers 10,000 properties which is approximately 10% of the boroughs households.

The pilot has allowed us to trial different container types, caddies, liners, garden waste sacks and shared food waste bins for residents on estates. It has also provided an opportunity to develop communication messages and more effective ways of engaging residents.

The current participation rates on the food and garden waste service are not available yet. However, initial feedback is positive and more details about the food and garden waste participation rates will be available shortly.

To encourage residents to use the service a range of actions will be taken to promote the benefits of recycling food and garden waste. Full details of the communications campaign to promote these new services are being finalised and are likely to include leaflets on how the service works, adverts in the press, at bus stops and on recycling and refuse vehicles. Information will be available on the website and via other social networks such as you tube and twitter, there will be road shows and events taking place across the borough and staff will attend residents meetings and other community events. 

Work with focus groups (not specifically in the trial area) is taking place in the next few weeks to learn more about what motivates people to recycle and how some of the more common myths around food waste collections can be dispelled.