FOOD waste collections in Torfaen will be starting next month, with brown kerbside caddies being introduced for residents in the borough throughout September.

The new weekly food waste collection service will start on October 22, and residents will receive a calendar with collection dates right through until December 2013.

The collections will be carried out alongside the black box collections and the newly-launched cardboard service.

Black and green bins will be collected as usual until November 5.

Throughout the winter, green waste will not be collected as the food waste will now be collected weekly in the new brown caddy.

Green waste collections will resume as normal in March.

Along with the new caddy and collections calendar, residents will receive a replacement sticker for the green bin, guidelines on what can be put in the food caddy and a letter explaining how their collections will be affected.

The new service will go a long way towards reducing the amount of waste Torfaen residents send to landfill every year.

Executive member for neighbourhood services, Cllr John Cunningham, said: “I am pleased to be able to announce the launch of yet another recycling service in Torfaen.

“I would encourage all residents to support this service so we can cut down on the amount of waste we all send to landfill.

This new service will help us reach our recycling targets set by the Welsh Government.”

Torfaen council still has work to do to meet tough Welsh Government targets on reducing the amount of waste it sends to landfill next year.

Recent figures on the amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfill showevery Welsh council has met targets for 2011- 12.

But in Torfaen 16,327 tonnes was buried, just under the target of 16,442 for that period.

The council must reduce this figure to within 14,050 tonnes by 2012- 13.

Allowances for how much councils can bury are reduced every year.

The Welsh Government is aiming to reduce the amount of biodegradable waste councils send to landfill to 50 per cent of 1995 levels by next year.

The plan means that by 2020 councils will only be able to dump 35 per cent of the waste in landfill that