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Seattle is introducing fines for people who waste food. The city, in the USA's northwest, will begin warning people on January the 1st and then start fining people on July the 1st. People will get a $1 fine if over 10 per cent of their garbage is food. Businesses will get a $50 fine. The city wants to reduce the amount of food that people and businesses waste. Americans waste around 40 per cent of the food they buy. The city wants to reduce this figure. Seattle aims to increase recycling from the current level of 56 per cent to 60 per cent. It is the second U.S. city to make composting compulsory.

Seattle's waste department said the new garbage system should raise awareness that recycling is important. A city official told the 'Seattle Times' newspaper that the programme would not make money. He said: "The point isn't to raise revenue. We care more about reminding people to separate their materials." He said he thought the fines system would be successful. Garbage collectors will decide if a house or business gets a fine. They will look inside garbage bins to see how much food waste there is. They can then add $1 or $50 to the next garbage bill.