Our Trial Project

Our Food Recycling Trial Project

We conducted an engagement exercise in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland which aimed to increase the rate of food waste recycling within three areas of Ayr.

The trial implemented three low-cost measures -

• placing 'no food waste' bin stickers on residual bins;
• providing free food caddy liners to households within the targeted areas
• issuing guidance to householders regarding food waste reduction and recycling.

The project enabled us to increase participation within the pilot areas and assess the effectiveness of different engagement interventions with residents.

Using compositional analysis, we measured the impact of these interventions and found an increase in food recycling rates across all areas, with households using the bin stickers performing best, reporting a 42% rise in food collected; and users of food caddy liners found an increase of 14.4%.

The success of the project will enable us to implement different engagement interventions with residents across South Ayrshire.