Tag: food waste

Starving rats feast on discarded Christmas leftovers

Pest controllers are issuing a stark warning to householders to be more careful with Christmas leftovers, after a surge in rat problems caused by a “perfect storm” of carelessly discarded Christmas food waste, cold weather and the skyrocketing population of rats this year.

“The problems are huge – the rat population going into Winter was 25% higher than last year, and we are entering a cold period – rats are moving around trying to find food and shelter – many are attacking domestic bins, and anyone being careless about their Christmas rubbish will pay the price”, explains Jenny Rathbone from Pest.co.uk

Most homes produce large quantities of food waste over Christmas and with less frequent waste collections – bins are overflowing. The advice is to avoid placing any food waste outside of a secure bin. The warning is even extended to cardboard and wrapping paper, which make perfect bedding materials for rats seeking shelter.

2020 has been a bumper year for rats – with the UK population up 25% caused by lockdowns, vacant commercial property, and poor waste management. However, many rats are now being forced to move towards residential areas are commercial food sources are drying up.

The other worrying news is that 74% of rats now carry a “hybrid-resistance” to common pest control poisons – which could mean next year rat infestations are harder (or more expensive) to control.

The recent 2019-20 Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use survey of rats showed that three-quarters of rats in the UK carried a resistance gene to popular rodenticides, and even more worrying in some locations in the UK, 20% have two different genes, making them super resistant.

“More and more people are seeing rats in the open – this is a sign that numbers are very high. We are heading for a cold snap, and rats are busy raiding food sources and bedding down – calls for infestations are already increasing”, says Rathbone.

Pest.co.uk is issuing the following advice to anyone worried about rats over the Christmas and New Year break:

  1. Do not leave any food waste unprotected – Any excess rubbish containing food of any sort should be kept secure, do not leave any bags anywhere outside of a bin, especially Christmas dinner leftovers
  2. Consider placing a brick or heavy object on top of your wheelie bin
  3. Keep all areas of your home clean and tidy
  4. Block up any gaps or holes in brickwork
  5. Remove cardboard and wrapping paper – these are idea bedding materials for rodents

“The advice is really simple – do not leave any Christmas waste in the open or outside a secured bin.

“Do not, under any circumstances, leave any Christmas food waste inside your home – as the rat threat level is currently extremely high”, warns Jenny Rathbone from Pest.co.uk

Christmas waste in numbers

300,000 tonnes of waste chucked out this week

The staggering amount of waste generated at Christmas can be finally revealed, with a total of 302,913 tonnes of waste being dumped this week alone across the UK, as bins are filled to the brim.

“Even with a slightly toned-down Christmas this year, we all know how full the bins get after Christmas – it’s now clear the huge environmental impact all this waste has.

“The numbers are simply astonishing – 2,000 tonnes of uneaten cheese chucked out for example”, explains Charlotte Green from recycling firm TradeWaste.co.uk

The online survey carried out by TradeWaste.co.uk asked 4,500 people about the contents of their Christmas bins – the results are remarkable, with food waste and food packaging creating the most waste this year.

“People seem to have taken to eating well this year, with lockdowns and all the doom and gloom – it seems comfort eating has become a national institution, however nearly 5,000 tonnes of half-eaten mince pies where thrown out – seems a terrible shame to me!”, adds Green.

Christmas food lovers (and haters) chucked out this year:

  • 141,525 tonnes of food packaging
  • 50,544 tonnes of leftover Christmas dinners
  • 24,600 tonnes of glass drink bottles
  • 7,500 tonnes of drink cans
  • 4,800 tonnes of leftover mince pies
  • 2,000 tonnes of cheese

It is not only leftover food waste which is filling the nations bins – wrapping paper, cards, decorations. Of course Christmas trees are all being thrown out this week – all 12,000 tonnes of them.

Luckily much of the waste created at Christmas can be recycled with trees being shredded into chippings, cards being munched for paper and some wrapping paper can be recycled too.

The interesting one is Christmas lights – these should not be put in a general waste bin, instead they need to be taken to a local authority waste site and put in the small electricals skip where they can be processed.

Seasonal goods we are chucking out this week include:

  • 30,000 tonnes of Christmas cards
  • 17,444 tonnes of Christmas wrapping paper
  • 12,500 tonnes of Christmas decorations
  • 12,000 tonnes of Christmas trees
  • 68,488 miles of broken Christmas lights

“It’s really difficult to reduce waste at Christmas, but we can all do our bit. It’s really important to split up all the waste you have and put it in the correct bin – some need to be processed differently – like broken Christmas lights.

“I just want to know who is chucking out all the mince pies, seems such a travesty!” concluded TradeWaste.co.uk‘s Charlotte Green.

Leith’s Good With Food!

Residents are being encouraged to adopt smart kitchen and shopping habits as part of a new campaign to tackle the climate crisis by reducing food waste in Leith.

Leith’s Good With Food, a new campaign from Zero Waste Leith, encourages the local community to shop smart, cook just the right amount and use up or share any leftovers.

The campaign is delivered by leading environmental charity Changeworks as part of the Zero Waste Leith project, with funding from the European Regional Development Fund.

Food waste is one of the top contributors to greenhouse gases – and throwing away food waste means you’re throwing away money too. Right now, 60% of the food we waste in Scotland could be avoided, and that’s something the campaign is looking to change. If food can’t be reused, it can be turned into energy through Edinburgh’s kerbside food recycling service.

The campaign kicked off with a launch event at the Leith Walk Police Box yesterday.

Hannah Milne, Zero Waste Leith Co-ordinator at Changeworks said: “Leithers are already leading the way towards zero waste in Scotland and now they are adopting food waste savvy habits in their kitchens, shops and streets with our new campaign, Leith’s Good With Food.

“Our team of volunteers gave out our new Good with Food kits which contain tools, tips and recipes to help Leithers avoid food waste and a kitchen caddy for collecting food waste recycling.”

The campaign is modelled on the successful anti-flytipping campaign, Flyspotting, which featured portraits and messaging from local Leithers and halved flytipping in ten test streets surrounding Dalmeny Street Park.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Environment Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council said:  “Food waste is a big greenhouse gas emitter, but it’s something households can tackle easily and help make a real, positive contribution.

“All food waste collected in Edinburgh goes to our state-of-the-art facility at Millerhill to be converted into energy – just one food caddy can generate enough electricity to power a TV for five hours!

“I welcome this new campaign from Changeworks and look forward to even more people getting into the food waste reduction and recycling habit.”

Recycling food waste helps us all tackle climate change, report reveals

The fight against climate change begins at home, a new report published by Zero Waste Scotland has revealed. The report, published to coincide with Recycle Week 2018, shows that less waste and more recycling, especially of food waste, are crucial in reducing our carbon impact.  Continue reading Recycling food waste helps us all tackle climate change, report reveals

Feeding 1000 bellies, not bins, across Leith!

There’s an old expression that ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’ Well, think again! Environmental charity Changeworks is hosting a free lunch on Sunday 6 May 2018 made from food that would otherwise have gone to waste. Continue reading Feeding 1000 bellies, not bins, across Leith!

Scottish householders urged to resolve to recycle more for 2018

New report highlights huge potential to increase recycling in Scotland

60% of landfill waste could be recycled, needlessly costing Councils £50m a year

Food waste a top priority, with only 27% being correctly recycled 

Almost two-thirds of waste that ends up in non-recyclable waste bins – or ‘the bin that goes to landfill’ – in Scottish households could have been recycled, according to a new Zero Waste Scotland report. Continue reading Scottish householders urged to resolve to recycle more for 2018

Tony Singh: “Don’t be a Christmas turkey!”

Celebrity chef Tony Singh: “reduce your festive food waste by planning ahead”

FESTIVE FOOD WASTE-LW

People in Scotland are set to throw away over 50,000 tonnes of food and drink throughout the month of December, including 280,000 turkeys, 240,000 Christmas puddings and 3.5 million mince pies. Continue reading Tony Singh: “Don’t be a Christmas turkey!”