A TRIAL food waste recycling collection scheme will be going ahead in Oxford in June.

It will be the first time Oxford City Council has collected this sort of waste in its drive to increase its recycling rates.

But for the 6,250 homes taking part in the ten-month trial, room will have to be found for yet another recycling receptacle - to add to the seven bins already available.

East Oxford is the area picked for the trial, which, if successful, could be rolled out across the city next year.

City councillor Jean Fooks, executive member for a cleaner city, said: "This will get food waste out of landfill and stop it giving off greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. I don't think people will find it confusing, it's a very straight-forward system."

The trial, which it is hoped will divert an estimated 800 tonnes of food scraps from landfill, was delayed by two months and will now start on June 1.

The scheme will involve two different collection methods.

Half of those taking part in the trial will be given a seven-litre kitchen caddie and a 21-litre kerbside container, while the other half just use the larger container.

Residents will also be given special biodegradable cornstarch binliners to use.

Elizabeth Mills, 56, of Divinity Road, said: "It's worth giving a go.

"Food waste attracts bluebottles and makes the bin full of maggots - anything to stop the horrible smell of decay that hangs over the street in the hot summer."

Jill Jaggers, 49, of Cricket Road, said: "Having three children that are fussy eaters, we do wonder what we're going to do with all the food waste sometimes."

Fuwad Chaudhary, 27, of Cowley Road, who lives with his family of 11, added: "If they are going to come out every week and collect food waste, why don't they just take the rest of the rubbish at the same time? The council is wasting more and more money on little things - I thought we brought in fortnightly collections to save money."

Annie Skinner, who co-founded the pressure group Collect Refuse in Oxford Weekly (Crow), said: "While we welcome the new service, the council needs to make it practical and usable in areas where residents often have no front or back gardens for storage.

"Other waste items such as nappies and sanitary products still need to be collected weekly, too.

"We already have a complex system and I hope this scheme will not add to the confusion."

This week, when setting its budget, the city council agreed to plough £15,000 extra into Oxford's so-called 'recycling revolution' by making blue wheelie bins - for extra recyclable material - free to those who want them.

HOW IT WILL WORK

  • The weekly food-waste collection trial is expected to cost £165,000, with £65,000 coming from Oxfordshire Waste Partnership
  • A new waste wagon will be leased, and if the pilot is successful, five of the council's fleet of 12 rubbish collection vehicles may be replaced
  • 4,000 tonnes of waste may be diverted from landfill, increasing recycling rates by ten per cent
  • Waste will be taken to a plant in Bedford until one is built in Oxfordshire.