FOOD waste collections are to begin in North Herts next month. Residents will be able to add such waste to the garden waste and cardboard which is currently placed in brown bins. Cllr Lynda Needham, the district council s portfolio holder for the environm

FOOD waste collections are to begin in North Herts next month.

Residents will be able to add such waste to the garden waste and cardboard which is currently placed in brown bins.

Cllr Lynda Needham, the district council's portfolio holder for the environment, said the move comes as a response to residents' demands.

She said that collecting food waste for re-cycling will mean diverting high methane emitting material away from landfill sites.

It will mean, too, that it helps control the growing tax burden of sending waste to landfill sites.

The move is due to the district council opening an in-vessel composting plant which will kill any bacteria in the waste due to a high temperatures process.

Such compost will then be safe to use in gardens.

The introduction of new bin collection arrangements has seen the district council achieve its re-cycling target of 40 per cent, and it is now working towards a re-cycling target of 50 per cent by 2012.

The district council plans to introduce the scheme on June 2.