Green homes get food waste disposers

Herefordshire Council is hoping a commitment to disposing of waste in a new 'green' housing development in Hereford is successful so more housing associations will follow suit.

Herefordshire Housing has fitted InSinkErator food waste disposers to its four new 'green' homes built on a former garage site, in Kilvert Road. The idea is to make it even easier for residents to cut down on the amount of kitchen waste they send to landfill.

The affordable homes, developed through Spectrum Development Partnership, a ten-strong consortium of West Midlands housing associations, have a number of other 'green' features, such as roofs seeded with a grass-like plant to increase insulation, high-efficiency boilers and timber weather boarding. As a result of these measures, they have received a 'very good' rating under the EcoHomes scheme.

Food waste disposers grind up waste that residents put down the kitchen sink and flush it away into the waste water system. This reduces the amount sent to landfill, especially as the amount of kitchen food waste thrown away in the UK is actually more than the weight of all the packaging thrown away.

Councillor John Jarvis, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for environment and strategic housing, is keeping a close eye on the trial of the food waste disposers.

He said: "Herefordshire Housing is one of the first housing associations to trial food waste disposers as a means of diverting food waste from landfill in this way. We're watching this project very carefully because, if it's deemed a success, we'll be encouraging other housing associations in the county to do the same."

The new residents will be encouraged to use compost bins to reduce their waste even further. Things like tea bags and potato peelings will go in the compost bin, while meat and fish scraps and cooked food leftovers that can't be eaten will go down the sink into the InSinkErator food waste disposer.

The waste flushed down the disposer gets carried away to sewage treatment where it undergoes several processes, one of which actually turns the food waste into electricity through the production of biogas. This is one of the reasons why food waste disposers were chosen for these new homes.

As well as encouraging developers to fit food waste disposers in new homes, Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council are urging private householders to fit food waste disposers in their homes through the 'Sink Your Waste' scheme.

Food waste disposers, which range in price from £60 to over £200, help to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases coming from landfill sites. About a quarter of the average home's rubbish can go into a food waste disposer.

The 'Sink Your Waste' scheme is one of the waste prevention initiatives run by Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council. Residents can claim up to £80 cashback towards the cost of fitting them.

Anyone interested in the 'Sink Your Waste' cashback `scheme can find out more by telephoning 01905 766883 or by looking at http://www.sinkyourwaste.com/.