East Dorset District Council is launching a new compostable waste collection service in March 2004. The new initiative, called the Brown Bin Scheme, will enable 5,000 households in Verwood to dispose of their food waste, thin cardboard and small amounts of green garden waste in a way that will benefit the environment.

The 120 litre brown bins, as supplied and implemented by Plastic Omnium, will be emptied every week and the waste taken to a special composting plant where it will be turned into a valuable soil improver. The cost of the service in 2003/4 will be funded by a DEFRA grant (£113,500 capital and £13,700 revenue). Each house and bungalow served by the scheme will receive a brown wheelie bin and 7 litre kitchen caddie. Flats will receive a smaller (25 litre) brown bin with a lockable lid, instead of a wheelie bin. House owners will be able to request the smaller bin instead of a wheelie bin by contacting the council. Residents also have the opportunity to purchase a composter at a reduced price from the council. Each household will also receive a year’s supply of special biodegradable liners (which break down when composted) to use in their kitchen caddie. Residents will be asked to separate all of their food waste (cooked and uncooked) and place it in their kitchen caddie, which should be lined with one of the biodegradable liners. When the caddie is full, the liner will be removed, tied off and placed in the brown bin. The liners and the locking mechanisms on the kitchen caddie and smaller bin will mean that the scheme will be safe and hygienic for everyone to use. It is the food waste and thin cardboard that the Council really want to collect, as this material is currently collected in black sacks and buried in landfills where it decomposes and gives off methane (a powerful greenhouse gas). If there is room left in the brown bin after the food and cardboard has been put in it, residents will be able to put in small amounts of green garden waste. A Sorting Guide will be delivered with the new bins to explain what can and cannot be put in the brown bins. A number of roadshows are planned for the area to further inform the general public, as well as an awareness raising campaign with local First Schools, using a poster design competition. All children who produce a poster will receive a desk top mini-wheeled bin and the winner will be announced in the press one week before the scheme commences. The scheme is set to roll out across most of East Dorset District from 2004 to 2008. The next areas to be served will be the remainder of Verwood, Three Legged Cross and St. Leonards & St. Ives in October 2004. The Council’s Environmental Protection Spokesperson, Cllr. Mrs Queenie Comfort said: “We hope residents of Verwood are looking forward to this new scheme and that they will make effective use of it. The success of this scheme depends on the cooperation and participation of all those involved”. For further information about the scheme please visit the Council’s website :www.eastdorset.gov.uk/residents/recycling/brownbinscheme.htm

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