Gloucester residents who have recycled hundreds of tonnes of waste food have helped save the city thousands of pounds over the past six months.

Between April and September more than 1400 tonnes of food have been recycled instead of being sent to the land fill site. A tax has to be paid for every tonne of rubbish dumped and this means that residents have contributed towards a saving of £81,000.

And the operators of the processing plant that takes Gloucester’s unwanted food have praised the city for the quality of the loads that get taken there to be turned into a soil nutrient.

Councillor Steve Morgan, cabinet member for the environment, commented: “We have to make almost £4 million worth of savings this year. This massive effort by residents means that this is £81,000 we don’t have to find just to fill a hole in the ground. That would have put an even bigger strain on our services than we are already facing.

“We are strict about the way in which we collect our food waste. We ask people to use newspaper to line their food caddies - we don’t allow plastic bags. The food decomposes faster and also means that there is less contamination of the loads because of the wrong type of plastic being used. The processing plant uses the end product as a soil conditioner for farming and it is also sold to the public.

“I would like to thank our residents for embracing this aspect of our recycling programme so enthusiastically. They are not only helping the environment by preventing the production of greenhouse gasses but they are also helping to save money that would have had to be paid in landfill tax.”

“Councillor Morgan added: “In the run up to festive period and during the holidays themselves we are all likely to be eating and drinking more. I would urge everyone to remember to recycle.”

The city council’s kerbside recycling services includes food waste, garden waste, paper, food and drink cans, mixed glass, plastic bottles, light card and domestic batteries.

Further information on recycling can be found at the city council website at www.gloucester.gov.uk