First slop buckets delivered to Wolverhampton homes

Slop buckets were being delivered to hundreds of homes in Wolverhampton today as a scheme to recycle food waste got under way.

More than 98,000 homes will receive two bins to add to their two wheelie bins, green box and white bag. The council is convinced the move to recycle food waste will save it £30,000 a year.

The scheme will enable the authority to turn the slops into energy and compost at a plant in Four Ashes.

It will cost taxpayers £462,000 a year in total to run the food waste collection scheme but the buckets have been paid for with a £600,000 grant from the government-funded Waste Resources Action Programme.

Today, residents in Low Hill and Park Village were the first to get the slop buckets, with residents' groups saying they would give them a go. But elsewhere in Wolverhampton, more than 800 people have called the council and said they do not want to receive the buckets.

They are being delivered on each area's normal bin collection day, and the first collection of food waste will be next Monday.

Jackie Dudnall, aged 56, of First Avenue, will receive her food bins on Wednesday when her rubbish is collected. The vice-chairwoman of the First, Simpson, Sharman and Kendrick Residents' Association said: "I think we've got to give these things a go, so I'll see how I get on with it."

Jan Kenny, chairwoman of Hawkswood Tenants and Residents' Association, said: "They've got to make it so everyone does it."

Last week residents in Whitmore Reans told a public meeting they were concerned that the new buckets would clutter the streets and objected to having to sort waste for the council.

Alistair Merrick, chief officer for commercial services at Wolverhampton City Council, said: "The more we recycle, the more we save on disposal costs.

"Even residents who choose not to use this new service can help by either composting or cutting down the amount of food they waste — and save on their weekly grocery bills."