Swindon food waste trial will be rolled out to 11,000 properties
Councillor Chris Watts, cabinet member for the environment and transport, said he was "really pleased" by the pilot's success, adding that it brought economic benefits as well as environmental ones.He said the borough council gets paid for the food waste it produces, which results in an "£150 turnaround" per tonne compared to the previous situation of having to pay for waste to be incinerated. A significant proportion of household rubbish in the town is made up of food waste, with analysis in 2024 showing that it accounts for more than a quarter of recyclable waste in Swindon's wheelie bins.Having already been introduced to areas in Park North and Penhill, the rollout of the scheme will now incorporate parts of west Swindon.
Mr Smith said he was optimistic about the scheme, despite a slow initial response."Recycling as a whole is going to grow and grow and grow until all that should go in your general waste will be plasters and chocolate bar wrappers," he added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
Mystery as Banksy collectors Ant and Dec sue top modern art dealer
BANKSY collectors Ant and Dec are suing a top modern art dealer at the High Court, The Sun can reveal. The telly favourites, who host shows including I'm A Celeb and Limitless Win, have lodged a lawsuit against Northern Ireland -based Andrew Lilley. 2 2 His company boasts online about selling ' Banksy prints that you just can't get anywhere else'. Court papers have been officially filed though the exact nature of the lawsuit is yet to be revealed. The Geordie duo, both 49, have called in top London law firm Wedlake Bell, which specialises in dispute resolution and business litigation. Using their full names, Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are listed as claimants in the Chancery Division (Business List) case. No date has been fixed for a first hearing before a judge. The case has been filed under Part Eight of the Civil Procedure Rules, meaning the facts of the case are unlikely to be disputed. Such claims are typically quicker to conclude than cases requiring a trial. Art lover Ant was keen to hammer out a deal to keep his beloved Banksy paintings at his £6million Wimbledon home following his divorce from Lisa Armstrong. He bought the pictures, which feature the mystery Bristol -based artist's iconic rat with a placard, with Dec at a £1million exhibition of his work in 2009. Mr Lilley, a 'Contemporary Art Trader', and Andrew Lilley Fine Art Limited are named as defendants. Watch the funniest 'I'm a Celeb' moments ever Companies House records show Mr Lilley, of Lisburn, near Belfast, had nearly £2million of assets in his firm last year. A business website claims the dealer has 'helped clients from all over the world find the artwork that appeals to them'. It adds: 'Whether you are looking for the latest Banksy or a sought-after Andy Warhol original, we have the expertise and experience to track down the prints, photography or original artworks that are making such an impact on the art scene right now.' And a company linked to Mr Lilley says online it is 'proud to be the 'Original Banksy Art Dealer',' adding: 'If there is a specific Banksy piece you are looking for, we can often find it for you.' And it offers 'a money back guarantee if you are not thrilled with your purchase'. Mr Lilley, 55, declined to comment when approached by The Sun.
The Sun
5 minutes ago
- The Sun
I tried all the supermarket cookie dough ice creams – winner is as luxurious as Haagen-Dazs but costs just £2.19
WHEN it comes to chunky cookie ice cream, which brand has got the competition licked? We set about our chilly quest after Haagen-Dazs revealed it had upped the dough nibbles in its Cookies and Cream flavour by 80 per cent. 9 The crunchy pieces now make up ten per cent of the sweet treat. But with the premium ice cream retailing at a wallet-melting £5.75 a tub, can supermarket own-brands give you the same flavours at a price that doesn't take the biscuit? Laura Stott dug deep into a selection to find out. Here she gives her verdict. SCOFFING the original posh pot from big brand Haagen-Dazs will set you back a pretty penny. But on the plus side, it's smooth and decadently creamy vanilla ice cream has a lovely rich taste and velvet texture – and it really does have the feel of a premium product. The crumbly biccie dough bits have been dunked in chocolate. They taste dreamy and add to the luxury. But even though the amount of them per tub has been increased by 80 per cent, yet more of them would be even better. For an occasional treat when staying in, or sharing with a partner, there's little not to enjoy when savouring a bowl of this – except of course for the steep price tag. RATING: 3/5 Chef reveals how to make Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream at home Gianni's Monster Cookie Crunch 500ml, £2.49, Aldi THE Cookie Monster-colour madness of Aldi's bright blue offering perhaps screams family movie night in, rather than sophisticated luxury. But it will certainly make you smile with its Sesame Street connotations. This was the first time I've tucked into a fluorescent blue ice cream but despite the lurid hue, it was pretty good. It had a nice vanilla flavour and a creamy texture even if it does feel a little confusing when you spoon in. There are big chunks of cookie scattered through, with a good cocoa choccie flavour and satisfying dense texture, plus sweet marshmallow sauce. Probably one to share with the kids rather than stock up on for a date night, owing to the novelty shade. But a fun and tasty dessert. 500ml, £4, Marks & Spencer THIS is a more grown-up and sophisticated biscuit-based tub and that's reflected in the higher price. But the ingredients are good quality and it's packed with the flavours it promises. It combines chocolate in four guises – ice cream, truffles, biscuit balls and sauce. The dense, dark choc ice cream has a strong taste of cocoa and the slightly bitter note associated with the higher percentage bean content – but it's delicious. The sauce is decadent, thick and gooey and the truffle nibbles are a real treat. But surprisingly, the biscuit balls were a disappointment as their dry texture added little. Overall, a nice pud, but if you want something packed with biccie flavour, this won't be the best choice. Gelatelli Cookie Dough 500ml, £2.19, Lidl WITH its bright orange lid and bold-coloured packaging, this might lack the sex-appeal of the big-name offering – but it's just as luxurious. Deliciously creamy and decadent, it was the richest and most indulgent vanilla ice cream of all the own-brand offerings, with a smooth, velvet texture that melts on your tongue. Hardly surprisingly when it's made with 29 per cent cream, and also contains condensed whole milk. The cookie dough balls, which accounted for 16 per cent of the tub, were chewy and delicious. The additional chocolate chunks ramped up the cocoa flavour and stayed nice and firm out of the freezer too. All that at a price that won't melt your weekly budget. A cracking cookie dough chomp. Cookie Dough Ice Cream 500ml, £2.75, Morrisons FIRST impressions were good here. It's a generous size and a purse-friendly price. It looked good when I took off the lid, too, with generous swirls of choc sauce and a decent amount of cookie dough pieces (16 per cent). But it's a shame there were no choccie chunks alongside. Instead you get extra cocoa-based shavings but they don't quite give you that same delicious, yummy crunch or element of enjoyment as a whole piece. The fillings taste great so it was a shame that the base ice cream they are mixed into wasn't the best. The frozen dairy was somewhat tasteless, with no real vanilla flavour and a rather watery texture, which was a real pity. I felt it let the rest of the pot down. Loaded Cookie Dough Ice Cream 480ml, £1.98, Asda A BARGAIN-price biscuit-based bowl of ice cream, this will save you a few quid when stocking up the freezer compared to the big-name brands. Despite its value price, this is a satisfying 16 per cent chewy biccies bits – although these tasted a bit blander than in some other offerings and their texture was claggier, making them a little less morish. There are choccie chunks distributed throughout, too, but they did seem a bit meagre. Overall, for the price, this is a perfectly satisfying pudding with decent vanilla ice cream which makes it ideal when serving up for family afters. But it doesn't quite hit the mark as a luxury, indulgent dessert. A great pound- saving everyday option. Fully Loaded Choco Cookie Dough Ice Cream 425ml, £3, Tesco IF you like your ice cream loaded with chunks, swirls, treats and morsels in every mouthful, this really delivers, packing a big flavour punch. It's 19 per cent chocolate chip cookie dough pieces plus there are plentiful amounts of gooey chocolate sauce swirled through the vanilla ice cream, and big dark chocolate chunks too. The choccie sauce was not that evenly distributed, with more on top, so as you progress down, there isn't as much. But you shouldn't feel short changed as you still get goodies in every spoonful. Tastes like a real treat and if you like to dig your spoon around to find the hidden chunks, you'll love this. Not the cheapest though and you won't get many servings from a tub. RATING: 3/5 Halo Top Ice Cream Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 460ml, £3.75, Asda (Rollback price) MARKETED as a lower-calorie option, this has just 370 calories in the whole tub. The main difference, as a result, is you don't get as rich and creamy an ice cream base, because it is made with skimmed milk. The texture was noticeably thin and insipid and the flavour seemed more synthetic. I noticed the strange aftertaste often associated with sweeteners straight after scoffing it too. There are also far fewer nibbles and treats mixed in – it's 6.1 per cent cookie dough lumps and 1.9 per cent chocolate drops – meaning it doesn't feel as much fun to eat. It's not that satisfying and if I wanted to watch my calories, I'd sooner have a smaller portion from a different pot.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Homeowners could pay new property tax instead of stamp duty
Homeowners with properties worth more than £500,000 could have to pay annual property taxes under radical plans to replace stamp duty. The Treasury is reportedly considering a proportional property tax in the budget this autumn, according to The Guardian. Rather than paying stamp duty (which ranges from 2 per cent on the purchase price between £125,000 and £250,000, through to 12 per cent on the portion of the price above £1.5 million) anyone buying a home worth more than £500,000 would face an annual tax. For years there have been calls to overhaul stamp duty, which raised £13.8 billion for the Treasury in the 2024-25 tax year but has been criticised for putting homeowners off moving. There are no firm details to the proposal, but it was reported that the Treasury was looking at suggestions from the centre-right think tank Onward, which would involve homeowners with properties worth more than £500,000 paying a 0.54 per cent annual tax on any value above £500,000. Professor Tim Leunig from the London School of Economics, who came up with the proposals last August, said: 'The way Britain taxes households is both impractical and unfair. Stamp duty raises transaction costs, preventing people from moving for new job opportunities, and undermines growth.' Any home worth more than £1 million would pay 0.81 per cent on the portion of its value over that threshold. Onward's proposals were that the new tax would not be applied retrospectively but would be paid by anyone who bought a home after it was introduced. The 5 per cent stamp duty surcharge for additional homes would remain and those owners would not pay annual levies. Leunig also proposed scrapping council tax and replacing it with a 0.44 per cent annual property tax levied by local authorities on house value between £800 and £500,000 (a maximum of £2,196 a year). Then you would pay 0.54 per cent on the portion above £500,000 to the government, instead of stamp duty. Someone with a £650,000 home would pay £3,006 a year — 0.44 per cent of £499,200 (the maximum £2,196) to their council and then another £810 a year to the government. • Read more money advice and tips on investing from our experts Treasury officials are reportedly considering a local property tax 'in the medium term' according to the Guardian, while replacing stamp duty could come earlier. The campaign group Fairer Share is calling for the abolition of stamp duty and council tax and for them to be replaced with a flat 0.48 per cent annual property tax. Andrew Dixon from Fairer Share said the reported plans would be a 'step in the right direction'. 'We look forward to working closely with the government to deliver long-overdue reform — creating a modern property tax system that supports local services, reflects real property values, and shares the burden more fairly across homeowners,' he said. The Times reported in May that 83 per cent of homeowners in England would pay less under a 0.48 per cent annual property tax than they did under the council tax system. The biggest losers would be those in London and the south east according to the estate agency Hamptons. House prices in those areas have gone up the most since April 1991, when council tax bands were set based on property values. Dixon said: 'By taxing property transactions, stamp duty discourages homeowners from moving — be it an older couple downsizing or a growing family upsizing. Removing it would lead to a more effective use of housing.' Some 85 per cent of homeowners in England and Wales were 'under-occupiers' with one or more spare bedrooms, according to a survey of more than 4,300 by Barclays. Of those, 73 per cent were over 45, and 37 per cent were over 65. The proportion of homebuyers who were 45 or older has fallen from 45 per cent in the 2015-16 tax year to 39 per cent in 2023-24, according to the estate agency Savills. Some 41 per cent of 2,000 homeowners aged over 55 polled by the estate agency Jackson-Stops said they would downsize within two years if stamp duty was reduced or removed. David Fell from Hamptons said: 'Who is better off will come down to how closely the government chooses to follow any recommendations. But I think in response to the general principle, the shift would probably cut the cost of buying the most expensive homes, but add to the annual cost of ownership, particularly given the artificially low levels of council tax charged by many places that have the most expensive house prices. 'The impact of a change to the system would probably depend on the level at which the rates were set, and the length of time it takes for the higher ownership charges to outweigh existing stamp duty and council tax bills.' The Treasury said it did not comment on speculation about the budget.
