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A green waste collection service might be provided in the future, after a survey found four out of ten households would want one.
It was one of several findings published by Guernsey Waste following a customer survey completed by 1,800 people. The results of the survey – conducted by Island Global Research - have just been released.
The survey asked respondents how much they would be willing to pay for a green waste collection service. 61% said they would pay £50 or more per year for their green waste to be collected.
Pictured: The current system allows people to take their green waste to Chouet for free, where it is turned into soil conditioner.
“Many councils in the UK offer garden waste collections as a paid for service. They can be popular, although in many cases households will have further to travel to a drop-off point than is the case in Guernsey,” said Guernsey Waste’s Operations Manager, Sarah Robinson, who suggested the service could work on an opt-in basis.
“We want to gauge whether it is feasible to provide a similar service in Guernsey, and the first step is to establish whether there is any appetite for it,” she said.
“The survey indicated there would be a good take-up, so we can now investigate how it would operate locally, and how much it would cost, as it will need to be able to cover its costs.”
49% of respondents said they would use a green waste service regularly.
Pictured: In 2021 3,500 tonnes of food waste was collected from households.
The survey also found that one third of those who responded have stopped composting at home since collections of food waste were introduced in 2018.
Guernsey Waste is therefore urging people to start composting at home again, since this shift forces hundreds of tonnes of food waste to be shipped off island, instead of being composted at home.
It has highlighted its subsidised home composting starter kit, which can be bought at various garden centres in the island for £10.
“We think we can do more though. We are keen to encourage islanders who have stopped composting kitchen waste to give that a go again. Plus there are probably a lot of islanders out there who have not yet tried home-composting, but could do. For instance if they have moved house and have a garden for the first time,” said Waste Prevention and Recycling Officer, Tina Norman-Ross.
“The more food waste we compost at home, the less we have to export and the less we have to pay to treat.”
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