Council makes food recycling for residents easy-peasy

A survey at the beginning of the year highlighted a major opportunity for households to recycle more, despite East Dunbartonshire having some of the highest recycling figures in the country.

The results revealed that while residents within the area are amongst the best recyclers in Scotland, 63 per cent of the average bin still contained items which could have been recycled. Food waste made up 32 per cent of the bins’ contents.

Councillor Ashay Ghai, depute leader of the council and convenor of neighbourhood services, said: “The biggest surprise for us was the food waste, as we have a highly successful food recycling programme in place, which is very well used. One reason for this may be that people are not sure of what food can be recycled. As well as all cooked and uncooked food, people can also place such things as bones, egg shells, peelings, dog food, tea bags and coffee grounds in their kitchen caddy.

“While it’s obviously better to shop smart to avoid food waste at all, we want to encourage people to make the most of their caddies if they do throw away food. We want to make it easier than ever before, so there is no longer a need to unwrap, say a joint of meat before putting it in the food caddy. Just throw in your wrapped veg, sausages or pizza and we will deal with it at the other end.”

He added: “Residents can also use their own caddy bags, or wrap the food in newspaper – we’ll take it away for you.

“We can also supply more recycling bins and food caddies to anyone who wants one, just call 0300 123 4510 and we will deliver these.”