Fortnightly collections slash waste for landfill

The trial, involving 2,500 households in Kingston, included cutting the number of normal rubbish collections and increasing collections of recyclable items.

This resulted in the amount of rubbish sent to landfill dropping from an average of 78 tonnes per month to just over 44 tonnes.

In the eight months preceding the trial, households in the Berrylands area produced 624 tonnes of waste to be sent for landfill.

But in the eight months since the start of the trial, the amount of landfill waste was just 354 tonnes.

The pilot scheme, which began in March, comes ahead of negotiations for a new waste collection contract for Kingston which is due to start in September next year.

Collections of recyclable goods, including paper, cardboard and plastic, were increased from fortnightly to weekly and collections of nonrecylable waste were reduced to one every two weeks. Organic kitchen waste was collected weekly.

A survey found that two thirds of households involved in the trial were either "very satisfied" or "fairly satisfied" with the changes. The trial's success means the new waste collection contract is likely to be based closely on the Berrylands model.

Rob Dickson, Kingston's head of environment and sustainability, said: "After we sat down and explained the situation to people they got it.

"People said that if we took their food waste away every week they were in favour. I would be surprised if that is not in the contract in some form. We are in the middle of procurement and all the big companies are interested in our business, which is good news."

A Kingston council spokesman said: "The results in terms of cutting landfill waste have been incredible and the new waste contract will be similar, but not identical, to the Berrylands scheme.

"Berrylands was a trial. We've listened very carefully to feedback from households involved. We know there are problems and we will be introducing changes."

The alterations will include providing biodegradable corn starch liners for kitchen waste bins and giving out larger wheelie bins for non-recyclable waste.

The results of the trial follow the announcement this week that town halls are to receive powers to pilot pay-as-you-throw rubbish collection schemes.

Under the system, households which recycle most of their waste could get a £50 rebate, while those that do not may be hit with a similar size penalty.