'Kitchen caddies' considered to cut down on compostable food waste

Householders who regularly waste food could be fined by their local council if the government goes ahead with new proposals designed to slash the amount of food that is sent to landfill.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn is considering the introduction of "kitchen caddies" so that households recycle their food waste, or face a fine if they throw it away with the main rubbish. Food would then be sent to specialist recycling plants rather than be dumped in landfill.

It is estimated that British households throw away 4.1m tonnes of food each year — the equivalent of £420 for every home. The bulk of food waste is currently not recycled but is part of the 18m tonnes of household waste sent to landfill each year. According to one estimate, 1bn people could be lifted out of hunger if food waste in the US and UK could be eliminated, because of the knock on effect that extra food has on global food prices.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that it had been studying the results of a study which looked at other countries that had banned certain items from landfill to boost recycling rates. It has launched a consultation to explore the next steps.

The research on bans in other countries was carried out by Green Alliance and looked at how similar bans have worked in Austria, Flanders, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Massachusetts in the USA. It showed, for example, that the amount of waste sent to landfill in Germany reduced from 27% to 1% after a landfill ban was introduced for some materials, such as paper and card. This was alongside a range of other measures to boost recycling.

A Defra spokesman said: "In light of this research a public consultation will be held in the next few months on banning certain materials from landfill in England. The timing of any bans will be an important part of this consultation and has not yet been decided."

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