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Oldhamers are throwing away a mountain of leftover food each year
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Don't throw it all away
Stuart Greer2/ 4/2008
OLDHAMERS are throwing away a staggering 30,000 tonnes of leftover food every year.
The figure is the equivalent to every household in the borough binning a mountain of 130kg of fruit, vegetables and organic waste through overbuying, cooking too much food, or a lack of skills in the kitchen.
Experts believe that we now chuck out a third of the food we buy which, according to government estimates, amounts to £92.5m.
The startling statistics have been revealed by the Advertiser as Oldham Council steps up its campaign to increase the amount of biodegradable waste which is diverted from landfill.
Oldham has the worst recycling record in the whole of Greater Manchester and the council faces penalties of £16m if recycling rates are not increased.
Last year, the Advertiser’s Do Your Bit campaign resulted in massive increases in recycling, and council bosses are hoping shoppers will now heed the food waste message.
A collection service which processes the waste into compost was recently trialled in 9,500 homes across Chadderton and Shaw, diverting 240 tonnes of food from landfill in its first five months.
As a result, recycling doubled to 37 per cent, and the council is keen to replicate this success across the borough.
From June the authority will start rolling out weekly collections to every home.
This week the council and local politicians are backing a new nationwide Love Food Hate Waste campaign which aims to change our bad habits of buying more food than we can eat and then binning it.
While the campaign to ditch plastic bags is gathering pace across the borough, Wrap, the Government’s Waste Resou-rces Action Programme, claims that discarded food is an even bigger problem than packaging, as the food supply chain accounts for a fifth of UK carbon emissions. And decomposing food releases methane, a greenhouse gas.
Our willingness to waste so much food is blamed on the fact we buy too much and do not plan menus.
Many foodstuffs are discarded when nearing their sell-by date and processed food is increasingly rejected before it has even been unpacked.
Phil Woolas, Environment Minister and MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, is urging readers to think about what they are throwing away.
"On the one hand, I think it’s terrific that, on the whole, people don’t have to worry about where the next meal is coming from," he said.
"My parents’ generation was not so lucky and grew up with rationing.
"On the other hand, we could learn a thing or two from them about not wasting good food when millions of others are starving.
"Waste not, want not was a good motto in the war and is a good lesson for all of us now."
There is also a threat to Oldhamers’ bank balances if we continue wasting food at current levels.
Oldham Council and the other nine Greater Manchester authorities have committed to a 25-year agreement aimed at reducing biodegradable waste going into landfills instead of being recycled.
But failure to reach strict Government targets will result in fines of £70 for every tonne of waste over the landfill limit.
Aided by kerbside recycling Oldham Council now recycles 20 per cent of its waste – a vast improvement but still the lowest in the region.
However the target keeps rising and for 2011 is set at 33 per cent.
Cllr Dave Hibbert, cabinet member for Environment and Regeneration, praised residents’ ‘magnificent’ effort but urged them to help the council do more.
How you can do your bit
Simple tips from www.lovefoodhatewaste.com to cut down food waste, while saving time and money, include:
- Calculate food portions for meals
- Plan your meals two weeks in advance
- Keep an eye on best before and use by dates
- Keep a well stocked store cupboard
- Use up leftover food in new recipes
- Use your freezer and storage vessels to full effect
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6/04/2008 at 09:47