Waste food collections in Sheffield would made a “massive difference” to the environment, say Lib Dems

They want the council to trial a doorstep food waste collection as they believe it will be “an easy way to make a massive difference”.

Lib Dem Leader Shaffaq Mohammed said when Labour had majority control of the council, they rejected Lib Dem attempts to introduce a trial service for residents.

He said: “Sheffield has a real opportunity to help tackle the climate crisis. When food rots it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

“Across the UK, 9.5 million tonnes of food is wasted releasing around 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas equivalents.

“That works out at 215,381 tonnes of CO2e in Sheffield – or 86,152 cars.

“The Lib Dems last introduced this idea to Sheffield Council in December 2019 and at the time, we were backed by the Green Party but Labour ultimately voted it down.

“We’re hoping that the new political balance on the council means we can finally get serious on food waste.

“Not only does kerbside food recycling mean we can stop thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gasses entering the atmosphere, but we can also use those gasses to create energy. It would be a massive win for Sheffield.”

Coun Tim Huggan, the Shadow Executive member for climate change, will put a motion forward at a meeting of the full council next week.

He said introducing food waste recycling was an easy way to make a massive difference.

“What other single decisions could the council make to take the equivalent of 86,000 cars off the streets?

“As a city, we’ve set a goal to be carbon zero by 2030. That’s just eight and a half years away. If the council introduced food waste recycling, we can all work together to help tackle climate change.”