Don’t bin your food waste

In Scotland, we’re wasting around 988,000 tonnes of food and drink every year and half of all food waste comes from households.

Food waste has a significant impact on the climate emergency. When food rots in landfill, it creates methane, one of the most damaging greenhouse gases, which is driving up climate change. This means that food waste can be an even bigger contributor to climate change than plastic waste.

Councillor Claire Leitch, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Net Zero, Environment and Climate Change, Equalities and Inclusion said: “The impact of food waste on the environment is significant. A recent survey by Zero Waste Scotland, found that 86% of Scots were unaware that food waste can be an even bigger contributor to climate change that plastic waste so we are planning a focused campaign to raise awareness starting with our bin stickers.

“We know from our waste analysis that almost half of our residents aren’t using their food caddy regularly so we are also trying to find out why. Last week, the Council launched a survey about Climate Change and there is a section on food waste. I would really appreciate if as many people as possible could fill this in so we can find new ways to help our communities recycle as much waste as possible.

“If we work together we can do our bit in a concentrated effort to help the planet and an important action we can all take is recycling our food waste. We can also save some money in the process. An average household could save £460/year rising to £700 for a family by reducing their food waste. There are many resources online to help people shop more carefully and use the food they have purchased instead of throwing it away. This could be pickling veg, freezing leftovers for another day, making soup, not buying too much food in the first place, checking sell by dates and…. as I have learned, definitely not shopping when you are hungry!

“We are at a climate tipping point and we need to take action now to make sure that our children and grandchildren have a healthy and happy future.”

If you have lost your indoor or outdoor food caddy please email waste@east-ayrshire.gov.uk or call 01563 554400.

East Ayrshire Council’s Climate Change Strategy is a comprehensive plan to help the Council reach Net Zero emission by 2030, in line with UK100 targets, and to help make the whole geographic area Net Zero by 2045, in line with the Scottish Government targets.

The plan is currently out for public consultation, which ends on Friday 12 November 2021.  You can find out more about the Climate Change Strategy online