Cumbria County Council signs new composting contract to help tackle household food waste

Composting specialist Great Green Systems (GGS) has announced that its parent company Lock End Investments (LES) has signed a contract with Cumbria County Council to help divert household food waste away from landfill.


More than 6,500 homes in the county will have access to new subsidised composters to help them to compost household food waste.

The three-year contract is being funded by Community Secretary Eric Pickles’ ‘£250m Weekly Collection Support Scheme’ and will be delivered by GGS as LEI’s specialist subsidiary.

GGS holds exclusive worldwide sales and distribution rights to the ‘Green Cone and Green Johanna Food Waste Digesters’.

Whilst similar in appearance to traditional garden composters, the patented design of both units enables all types of food waste including meat, bones and dairy products, to be safely disposed of in the garden. The Green Cone produces minimal residue, and the Green Johanna rich compost.

Speaking to edie.net, Great Green Systems John Cockram chief executive said: “Food waste has been highlighted as a major problem. There has always been a lot of emphasis on preventing the waste but there is always going to be an unavoidable fraction of waste that cannot be treated. We offer a common sense solution to solve this problem.

“We are delighted that Cumbria County Council has decided to invest in our products because it makes both environmental and economical sense. When people start to segregate food waste at source they realise how much waste they are throwing away.

“This exciting announcement is further testament to the fact that more and more local authorities today recognise the financial and environmental benefits of disposing of household food waste at source. We look forward to a long and successful working relationship with Cumbria and its residents.”

Councillor Clare Feeney-Johnson, Cumbria County Council Cabinet member for Environment, said that three districts will be participating in the scheme, including Allerdale, Barrow and Eden.

She said that food waste was the “next big step in waste prevention for us to tackle”.

She added: “The sheer geographical size and rural area of Cumbria makes it a challenge to collect food waste from households. We do not have an anaerobic digestion plant. We have to start looking at waste prevention and these products will help people to focus on people reducing and preventing their food waste.”

Householders in the three districts will have to pay a small fee for the composters.

Feeney-Johnson said: “By producing a minimum charge, people will make a conscious decision to recycle more. Sometimes when you give something away for free people do not appreciate it in the same way. It will also help us to offer the products to more households.

“I’m delighted we have secured funding for this exciting initiative, which will offer fantastic savings for households looking to compost all their food waste at home.

“I would encourage residents to take advantage of this scheme, which will have a really positive impact on the environment and also help reduce the council’s waste treatment costs.”

Liz Gyekye

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