Southampton City Council has launched a new reuse project to reduce the amount of food and office waste sent to landfill, and to help those in need.
The CRUMBS (Coordinated Re-Use Makes Business Sense) project is being delivered by the council in partnership with local charity SCRATCH (Southampton City and Region Action to Combat Hardship), after receiving £335,000 from the South East England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Competitiveness Programme.
The initiative seeks to reduce the amount of food waste sent to landfill by working with supermarkets to redistribute in-date, perishable food to food banks for ‘disadvantaged residents’.
Major retailers including Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, as well as food manufacturing companies Kellogg’s, Weetabix, Nestlé, and Brake Brothers, have already committed to provide food for the scheme.
The project will also offer businesses a ‘sustainable and cost-effective alternative to sending waste to landfill’ by running a reuse service for unwanted office furniture.
It is hoped the project will minimise waste, reduce the city's carbon footprint, and provide work and training opportunities for local people, community groups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
'Hugely valuable'
Councillor Matt Tucker, Southampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Leisure Services, said: “CRUMBS is a hugely valuable project for Southampton, as it addresses a number of important issues at the same time as providing jobs and training opportunities for residents.
“It’s vital that we do all we can to tackle the growing issue of food poverty so I’m particularly pleased that we’ve been able to get retailers and supermarkets on board. The fact that the project contributes to our drive to reduce carbon emissions while a improving the lives of residents is something to be welcomed.”
The council has set the CRUMBS project a minimum target of diverting 400 tonnes of waste from landfill by April 2015, which it says could result in a saving of £34,000 and represent an equivalent saving in CO2 emissions of 1,800 tonnes (calculated at 4.5 tonnes per tonne of waste).
A website for the project is being developed and is expected to be launched in the coming weeks.
Find out more about business waste recycling in Southampton
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