Peterborough Cathedral will be lit up green today (Monday) to mark the start of this year's Recycling Week.
This Recycle Week, Peterborough City Council is encouraging residents to think before they throw when disposing of their household waste and making sure they put their food waste in the grey food waste caddy.
Now in its twentieth year, Recycle Week is the nation’s biggest annual celebration of recycling.
Last year, Peterborough City Council disposed of almost 40,000 tonnes of household waste from the black bin collections which then goes to the city's Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Fengate.
However, the council estimates that almost one third of this was food waste that could have been put in the council's grey food waste bins. Recycling food waste by putting it in your food waste bin is better for the environment and saves the council around £870,000 a year in disposal costs.
As Peterborough City Council looks to make over £5 million of savings next year, encouraging residents to dispose of food waste could help save thousands of pounds.
Cllr Nigel Simons, Peterborough City Council's Cabinet Member for Infrastructure, Environment and Climate Change said: "Currently about 27 per cent of the black bin we collect is still food waste which means tax payers in Peterborough are unnecessarily paying hundreds of thousands of pounds to dispose of this waste that could have been treated more efficiently if it had been disposed of in the grey food waste caddy.
“The food waste collected separately is sent for processing at an Anaerobic Digestion facility which generates electricity to power homes and the local community, as well as producing a fertiliser which can be used in farming to enrich the soil so we would much prefer this material in the grey caddies rather than the black bin.
"During this Recycling Week I'd urge all our residents young and old to think before they throw and make sure they are putting food waste in the food waste bin. It's a really simple step they can take which could save thousands of pounds and be better for the environment."
The Recycling Team and their mascots Recycling Rita and Hungry Harry will be on the Cathedral Green at 6pm on Monday to mark the start of Recycling Week.
And on Wednesday 18 October they will have games, leaflets and information and will be answering questions outside Peterborough Town Hall in Bridge Street, Peterborough.
The team will also be encouraging youngsters to start recycling from an early age when they visit Peterborough College nursery on Thursday.
What goes in your grey food waste caddy:
- All uneaten food and plate scrapings
- Baked goods such as bread, cakes and pastries
- Fruit and vegetables both raw and cooked including peelings
- Dairy products, eggs and eggshells
- Out of date mouldy food
- Raw and cooked meat and fish including bones
- Tea bags and coffee grounds
Do not put any food packaging or liquids in the grey food waste caddy.
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership (RECAP) is giving residents the chance to win £60 by signing a pledge to reduce the amount of food waste they create. You can sign up to Pledge to Fight Food Waste - RECAP.
To find out more about Recycle Week visit www.recyclenow.org.uk/RecycleWeek.