Council set to oppose weekly food waste collections

North Yorkshire County Council looks set to argue against government proposals for mandatory separate, weekly food waste collections.

A meeting of the authority’s transport, economy and environment scrutiny committee heard while the government proposal was part of an ambitious plan to achieve 65 per cent recycling targets, it was more appropriate for urban areas than England’s largest county.

Members were told while 51 per cent of local authorities collected food waste, North Yorkshire did not partly because recycling yields from collecting food waste were very low.

Councillors heard instead organic waste was recovered from residual waste at the county’s Allerton Park energy-from-waste plant in a “very cost-effective way” and that separate food waste collections would lead to a significant rise in costs for the taxpayer.

Councillor Andrew Lee, the authority’s waste management boss, said: “In reality a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work.

“In North Yorkshire we have taken a pro-active approach to waste having invested in the Allerton Park site, so we have that advantage over other authorities with that advanced facility.

“We have the capacity to deal with food waste and by introducing separate food waste collections it might have an impact on what we are doing, and I believe we are already doing well.”