New food waste recycling scheme at Palgrave Gardens gets the thumbs up from residents
November 14, 2024
The London estate management division of Premier Estates have overseen the launch of a new food waste recycling service at its Palgrave Gardens development, London, in partnership with Veolia and City of Westminster Council.
What is the broad purpose of the waste recycling scheme?
The scheme had six key objectives:
- Improve refuse and recycling services in mansion blocks, which involves reducing disposal of non-recyclable items in recycling bins, and to encourage more ‘good recycling.’
- To make significant carbon savings that can be measured and reported, to contribute to Westminster Council’s net zero target, which sees the city targeting net zero by 2040.
- Improve the health and safety for residents and all stakeholders.
- To improve value for money and to save service charge costs to residents.
- Improve the quality of the communal living areas to improve residents’ quality of life.
- Be compliant ahead of Simpler Recycling reforms.
At Palgrave Gardens the objective was much simpler, to improve refuse control hygiene and awareness and to also improve pest control measures to refuse stores.
It is acknowledged that all such measures are always prudent, however as the Palgrave Gardens development is located adjacent to Marylebone train station, where it is recognised that pest control measures need to be heightened, this remained a focus to ensure a pleasant and safe environment for our resident’s. The Development Manager, supported by his Senior Estates Manager assessed the specific requirements for Palgrave Gardens and created a plan with the Residents and Veolia, which achieved this.
What makes the scheme different to other household waste recycling schemes?
Unlike general waste and mixed recycling, the food recycling bins are dedicated solely to food waste. Food waste recycling is an issue for many councils across the UK. Many people do not like having food waste in – or near – their homes. As a result, food waste is often put it into the main household bin.
In a shared environment, such as an apartment block, this can cause there to be too much waste from households. This can result in overflowing refuse containers, which can become heavy and awkward to manoeuvre.
In some instances refuse containers can become contaminated if refuse sacks split open and the contents spill out. These reasons have been cited as key issues that the council wanted to tackle via the scheme.
How was the scheme initially communicated to Palgrave Gardens’ residents?
The scheme was communicated to residents electronically, via the resident portal Dwellant and through Westminster Council visiting the development to hand out flyers, food recycling caddy containers and free biodegradable liners.
The estates team at Palgrave Gardens keep the biodegradable liners in stock to incentivise the residents to use this service. To further incentivise the residents, the biodegradable liners are supplied free of charge.
Palgrave Gardens estate managers excel in improving residents’ quality of life
At Palgrave Gardens, the results of the scheme have been well received by the residents and the council alike.
Pest control measures have significantly improved, the refuse stores smell better and overall, this type of waste recycling scheme is better for the environment.
Development Manager, Solomon Drummond of Premier Estates said; “There were no major challenges to rolling out the scheme. It was just a case of helping to change the mindset of the residents and reminding them to use this service.”
He adds to this by saying; “The residents were really happy to receive a new service, it is just as easy for them to use as their normal rubbish and recycling process and convenient for our caretakers to put out the wheelie bins for weekly collections. This is a great sustainable way to help our site’s green footprint. The roll out of this scheme went well with the food recycling buckets used straight away.
Sonu and the Westminster Waste & Recycling Team are always very help and at hand to provide assistance. Most recently helped with the replacement of damaged bins, food and recycling bin bags and the bulk waste team when we have had late or missed collections.”
The initiative and dedication shown by Solomon and his team is a fantastic example of how Premier Estates’ estates managers genuinely care for the residents at the developments, which they are responsible for. Well done Solomon and your team!
Premier Estates’ commitment to sustainability
The food waste recycling scheme is a great example of our commitment to improving sustainability, as waste reduction plays a key part in our sustainability policy, as the extract below shows:
Waste Reduction and Recycling
- We will promote waste reduction and recycling programs in all our developments via regular updates and community days.
- We will work to minimise the use of single-use plastics and encourage the use of sustainable materials.
- We will properly dispose of hazardous waste and encourage responsible disposal among tenants and residents.
How does the food waste service work in mansion blocks?
Westminster City Council provide a kitchen bin and roll of liners to each individual household.
The council recommends residents bring their liners securely tied down to the bin store area, or the porter collect the liners from each flat, and deposits them in the communal bins, which are emptied once a week.
Each time the communal waste containers are collected they are lined with plastic to avoid spillages.
Westminster Council ran this as a pilot scheme, and they are hoping other large developments and mansion blocks will follow the positive example set by Palgrave Gardens.
Premier Estates provide award-wining property management services across the UK. If you would like to speak to one of our team about managing your property portfolio, please call 0345 491 8899.
