WASTE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLING WASTED FOOD =
ENVIRONMENTAL OPPORTUNITY Kieron Colbert,
W
ith environmental responsibility so high on the global agenda, food waste is a critical issue for both private
individuals and corporations in the developed world. To many, the volume of often perfectly good food that is thrown away is nothing short of a scandal, and the UK has now become one of the top food wasters in the world. As a country we throw away 6.7 million tonnes heading for landfill sites each year1
. Some of this will be
crop-damaged food, much of it the by-product of our society’s attitude to food production and consumption trends. In financial terms, the value of this is over £10.2 billion a year which translates to £250 to £400 for every household2
. But this isn’t to say that the food Viridor operations manager for London
we throw away is just wasted. Modern, engineered landfill sites utilise technology that can harness the gas the rotting food produces to produce power. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is fast gaining popularity as a viable and crucial part of the energy-production mix alongside better known renewable options such as wind and solar power. In the UK, energy from waste (EfW) already accounts for 6 per cent of total renewable energy, and anaerobic digestion, which uses a biological process whereby microorganisms break down biodegradable material to produce methane and release
energy, has the potential to contribute much more to this figure. The benefits of AD are two-fold, with it producing both useful gaseous products and a solid fibrous “compostable” material. Anaerobic digestion plants can provide energy from waste by burning the methane created from food and other organic wastes to generate electricity, defraying the plant’s costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
A further benefit is the digestate by- product, which is a nutrient-rich liquid, produced during the anaerobic digestion process. It can be used in farming as an alternative to chemical fertilisers.
With benefits to the environment such as this the concept of AD should be higher on the facilities agenda than it is at present. But, in many office processes the biggest issue for recycling is getting, and keeping, employees on board. For businesses to make collection of food waste, or indeed any recycling, in the workplace a success communication is very important. Getting that buy-in is the crucial difference between getting enthusiasm throughout your enterprise and your plans never getting off the ground.
1 The Guardian, 28/10/2007 60| SUSTAINABLE FM | JUNE 2010
Here are some top tips to ensure your attempts at food collection get traction and your food waste is minimized:
TOP TIPS • Office Managers should do everything they can to make recycling part of the company culture, above all making recycling and disposal of waste, easy, quick and painless for employees.
• Communicating successes such as the total waste recycled by the office, and the equivalent impact on the environment inspires employees.
• Encourage staff through the appointment of an office “green champion” or prizes for commitment to recycling.
• Simple factsheets and labels which can be stored electronically and displayed in hard copy next to recycling bins will make all the difference.
• Be visual. From a food waste perspective, demonstrating through posters and labels just how much energy can be produced from just one month’s worth of office leftovers can be an effective encouragement as colleagues can see the value of what they’re doing –and, indeed, what they’re not doing!
• Use purposely-designed food waste caddies and bins, as well as bio-degradable liners helps to reduce any smells. Regular collections and storage in a relatively cool area are an absolute must.
Don’t under-estimate the value that wasted food can have in our ongoing efforts to minmise waste and help the environment. While more focus should be placed on preventing good food from being wasted, we also need to make sure we extract all of its value in our ongoing efforts to secure sustainable energy sources and minmise our negative environmental impact.
www.viridor.co.uk
2 ibid
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