Welwyn Hatfield food waste to be recycled into renewable energy!

Welwyn Hatfield’s waste partner, Urbaser Ltd will commence food waste collections from households across the borough on 2 November. The waste will be recycled and used to generate power and create fertiliser for local farmland...

Over the last few months over 40,000 green caddies have been delivered to homes across the borough and Urbaser has invested in four specialist food waste vehicles to carry out the collections. The compact vehicles are Iveco 7.5t Euro 6 to meet the latest emission standards and fitted with Farid Micro Food bodies. They have a small footprint, so they are highly manoeuvrable and perfect for difficult to reach areas.

Javier Peiro, Managing Director, Urbaser Ltd: “We are delighted to be working with Welwyn Hatfield Council to be able to introduce food waste collections across the borough. Food waste produces greenhouse gases, which when left unharnessed are damaging to the environment. The food waste will be collected in specially adapted vehicles and once it is recycled the gases will be used to generate renewable energy. We encourage local residents to utilise the new service by using the green caddies for all their food waste.”

Urbaser was awarded a 9-year waste, recycling and street cleansing contract by the council last year following a rigorous procurement process. The contract commenced in April 2020 and Urbaser is working closely with the council to introduce a number of service improvements, such as the introduction of weekly collections of food, small electrical items, textiles and household batteries.

Executive Member, Environment and Planning, Councillor Stephen Boulton said: “We are delighted to introduce a food waste collection service through our partner, Urbaser. I would like to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to them for helping to make this happen and for their amazing professionalism and commitment in a very difficult year. They became our new waste partner just a week after the country went into lockdown. Since then, facing challenges such as reduced staff numbers due to sickness and self-isolation and over three times the usual amount of waste and recycling, they have continued to empty our bins.”

Leader of Welwyn Hatfield Council, Councillor Tony Kingsbury said: “We continue to look at ways we can improve our recycling rate and reduce waste in Welwyn Hatfield. Separating out our food waste means that gases can be captured in the recycling process and converted into both green energy and natural fertilisers that can be used for farming. The contents of everyone’s caddy will be recycled locally, so this is good news for both the environment and our local communities.”

Associated Businesses

  • Cheltenham, GL53 7JT