WASTE MANAGEMENT Food for Thought
Huw Crampton, Sales Manager at organic waste solutions firm Tidy Planet, explores what the Environment Bill means for the care sector in the run up to the new food waste regulations coming into effect, and advises on how sites can ensure they are compliant in time for the deadline.
The UK Environment Bill – now the Environment Act – was passed back in November last year and is changing how care homes in England are able to deal with their food waste.
At present, many care homes either combine their food waste with general waste or it is macerated and digested, then disposed of to sewer. In 2023, however, this will no longer be compliant.
While the Government has previously pledged to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025, the Act has further built upon this by committing to eliminating this material from landfill by 2030.
Therefore, from 2023, it will become mandatory in England for care homes that generate food waste as part of their daily routine, to present it separately for collection.
Fundamentally, this means three things. Firstly, food waste will need to be transported from a care home’s site as a clean, separate material stream – either for composting or gas generation. Secondly, it will no longer be allowed to be sent to sewer by maceration or digestion, and lastly, it can’t be mixed with general or other wastes.
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This new approach to waste management and disposal will be a bigger shiſt for some sites than it is for others – especially if there is currently no segregation of waste streams in the care home’s kitchens, or food waste is currently disposed of to sewer by a digestion, waste-to-water system, or traditional macerator.
But as these practices will no longer be compliant within the new laws, the sector needs to start reviewing and planning for the future as soon as possible.
Geography and lack of local infrastructure also needs to be considered. Care facilities in more rural areas already know how challenging it can be to get wastes collected reliably, but now there is going to be an extra collection, bin, and supplier needed. Therefore, it is crucial to be looking into how far away the closest food waste processing site is, alongside how easy and cost-effective it is going to be to get it collected.
The good news is that it is possible to implement solutions that align with these new measures, and that not only
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