Gloucestershire County council is going to streamline its food waste services by having all local authorities use the same company, Ubico, which it is a shareholder of. The company is going to be given an 8 year contract, worth £1.6 million that will start in October 2021.

Ubico is an authority-owned environmental services company in Gloucestershire and West Oxfordshire.

In 2020/21, the service collected and treated a total of 24,400 tonnes of food waste, which generates clean, green and eco-friendly energy to power homes. The fertiliser it produces also helps farmers grow bigger and healthier crops.

Councillor David Gray, cabinet member for environment and planning, said: "The collection and recycling of household food waste makes a huge contribution to lowering the county's carbon footprint and will help us to achieve our target of a carbon neutral county. This contract also offers a long term saving to residents. If you're not using your food waste service then please do and a big thank you to those who are already."

Richard Cook, Gloucester City Council's leader, said: "By becoming a shareholder, it means we will have a seat at the table with more flexibility and influence over the services we provide.

"In addition, there are increased environmental benefits and we will benefit from the Ubico Training Centre, which focuses on local employment and apprenticeships."

Ubico will not begin taking over Gloucester's general waste and recycling, street cleaning and grounds maintenance until April 2022, when the current contract with waste company Amey ceases.