This page is not a current Christchurch City Council document. Please read our disclaimer.
 |
| September 2002 |
|
City food scraps trial successful
Early results from a trail to collect food
scraps from city homes suggest Christchurch
could use the idea to take a huge
bite out of the amount it puts into
landfills each year. The eight-week trial collection,
which ended in July, was the first
of its kind to be done in New
Zealand and is being watched
eagerly by councils throughout the
country. Taking part were about
300 homes in Burnside and
Fendalton. The scraps bins were
put out each week along with the
green recycling bins. People in
those homes were questioned
about the service when it ended
and the results indicate people
would support a kerbside
collection. Of those who took part, 98 per cent rated
the service either good or very good, and 96%
said they would keep using it if it was provided. More than half the households taking part
put out their scraps container every week of
the trial. The Council collected an average of 5kg a
week from each home. Over the eight weeks
it meant 12 tonnes was collected. About 90% noticed the amount of rubbish
going into their black bags had dropped. Keeping plant matter and food scraps out of
the landfill is a priority for the Christchurch City
Council because it takes a lot of space, creates
pollution and is burying something
that could be made into a useful
product — compost. In 1998, the Council set itself a
target to cut the amount of green
and kitchen waste each city
person is sending to landfill by
90% by 2010. That is 90% of
1994 figures. It is part of a wider
plan to cut the over-all waste
stream by 65% by 2020. Of all the waste now going into
the Christchurch landfill about a
third — 76,000 tonnes a year — is
organic waste. Most of that, a little
over 50,000t, is garden organics. Food scraps makes up the balance
of 25,000t. As this material rots, it creates
leachate and methane, a greenhouse gas. Already, the Council’s Garden City
Composting unit keeps about 32,000t of
garden waste out of the landfill by turning it
into compost. That is the material brought into
the drop-off points at transfer stations. The Council plans to encourage more of this.
It is looking at options to build a large enclosed
composting plant that could take in a wider
range of material, including kitchen scraps. The recent food scraps collection trial is part
of work being done to make sure the project
is workable and will be accepted by people
before money is spent on equipment and
collection systems. The trail was set up on the understanding
that, to be successful, all food scraps except
liquids (oils, liquid fats, sauces and juices)
should be collected. Planners were looking at
a wide range of material — cooked and
uncooked meat, fish and vegetables, as well as
bones, shells, coffee grinds, tea bags and
mouldy food. As well as helping the environment and
reusing a resource, planners believe a city-wide
kitchen scraps collection could have other
benefits, including providing a quality alternative
to home composting and helping to keep the
city tidy because fewer black bags will be ripped
open by animals trying to get at food scraps. Staff will ask the Council for permission to run
another trail this summer. If they get the goahead
it will again be run in a selected area. Under current planning it is likely to be several
years yet until the service is running throughout
the city. Selecting and building a sealed
composting plant could take up to two years
and the system is likely to begin with commercial
waste, which is more simple to collect, and then
move on to domestic kitchen scraps. |
