So what are we doing about it? We have a partnership between NYCC, the City of York and the seven districts of North Yorkshire that has been going for 10 years. This partnership is really important as by working together and building capacity, we can do far more than trying to work on an individual basis. We have a joint waste strategy called ‘Let’s Talk Less Rubbish’ which was adopted by all the partners in June 2006. It sets challenging targets for waste reduction, recycling, composting and diversion from landfill. So far, we have done really well, we’ve more than doubled our recycling and composting in the last 4 years and reached our target of 40% two whole years early.

BUT we still create far, far too much waste, more than most other counties in the UK. 534 kg per person per year. That’s just over half a tonne for each person. There are lots of things that we are doing to improve. We call these waste minimisation initiatives: a real nappy campaign; we’ve produced reusable shopping bags to help stop plastic bags clogging up landfill; and our Choose to Reuse campaign in partnership with charity shops and furniture re-use organisations has proved a real success. So what next and why are we here: Answer is, we are broadening out even more on our home composting campaign, by focusing on food and garden waste which makes up 30% of the residual waste system in York and North Yorkshire.

Every year in the UK we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food waste. That means that 1/3 of the food we buy ends up going to landfill......... What a Waste! Most of that food waste could have been eaten – are we buying more than we need?

Yes we are, it’s costing around £420 for an average family, and for families with children around £600.

All that food we throw away goes to landfill where it starts to break down and produce a greenhouse gas called Methane that is even more powerful than CO2. So, for the anoraks amongst us, that means that every tonne of food waste is responsible for 4.5 tonnes of CO2 emitted to the atmosphere.

For those of us who prefer simple facts, I can tell you that if we now stopped sending food waste to landfill, that would be the equivalent of taking one in five cars off the road!

So the message is – by reducing your food waste and recycling it at home is not only good for your pocket but also a big help to fight climate change.

To help you reduce your waste, Waste Watch, on behalf of the Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Waste Partnership, are delivering a Capacity Building Programme promoting waste reduction by;

• Running a what not to waste project with 8 households across York and North Yorkshire
• Holding training events to provide delegates with skills, knowledge and confidence to encourage others to minimise their waste
• Delivering roadshows encouraging residents to compost their garden waste and reduce the amount of kitchen waste they produce.