Westminster Council is one step closer to introducing food waste recycling following lobbying by the Westminster Labour group. The Council has announced it will be running pilots in the following wards: Harrow Road, Vincent Square, Churchill, Abbey Road and Regent’s Park.

Westminster Council is one of a handful of London boroughs that currently do not provide a widely available scheme for food waste recycling.

At a Full Council meetingearlier this year, Councillor Pancho Lewis, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment, pressed CouncillorTim Mitchell – who heads up Westminster’s Environment team – to introduce a scheme. And last month, at a Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Lewis again pressed Council officers again about the issue.

In its 2018 local government manifesto, Westminster Labour also committed to exploring the introduction of food waste recycling. The manifesto stated that: “Labour…will explore opportunities where appropriate to support community composting and the recycling of food waste.”

Despite initial resistance, the Council has now taken forward Labour’s suggestion. And the announcement about where the pilots will happen takes the Council one step closer to making it a reality.

Recycling food waste is both environmentally and fiscally responsible. Food waste is a massive contributor to GHG emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest carbon emitter after the US and China. In addition, using food waste to generate energy can save local authorities money. At a time of shrinking budgets, it is financially prudent to separate food from other types of waste.

Labour will keep a close eye on these developments closely and continue to press the Council to make the City greener.