Hundreds complain about west Berkshire food waste recycling

West Berkshire Council has defended its recently introduced food waste bin service, after hundreds of residents said they had not had theirs collected.

The new scheme was introduced in late October, but many people in villages outside Newbury said no one had turned up to collect the bins.

The council claims 99 per cent of food waste collections are successfully completed on their scheduled days, with any not completed typically being picked up on the next working day.

But it does admit to a few teething issues.

“We hope to see continuous improvements as more residents participate in the service and vehicle crews become familiar with their collection rounds,” said a spokesperson.

“We are encouraged by how well residents have embraced the new service. Over the first four weeks, an average of over 80 tonnes of food waste has been collected across the district. We expect this capture rate to increase significantly in the coming weeks as more people become aware of the benefits of recycling food waste.”

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