RECYCLING & WASTE MANAGEMENT
HARNESSING FOOD WASTE POTENTIAL
It isn’t just legislation that’s driving companies to reduce their food waste volumes, there are financial and sustainability incentives too. Huw Crampton of Tidy Planet – talks more about the resource potential of this particular waste stream.
Food waste is one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the facilities management industry in 2020, and it’s also one which has featured heavily in the media spotlight over the last 12 months.
“WRAP states that food waste – circa 289,700 tonnes – costs the UK’s hotels £318m each year.”
When it comes to being ‘green’, a growing number of organisations in the education and hospitality sectors are adopting measures to reduce their carbon footprint and make their business models more sustainable. In fact, closing the food waste management loop and having an on-site solution to treat organic excess is becoming something of a trend – and the end-result often takes the form of compost.
In the education sector alone WRAP reports that 123,000 tonnes of food waste are generated each year and that this costs the UK’s educational establishments £250m, including any waste management fees.
The outlook from the country’s fast-paced hotels industry is even starker. WRAP states that food waste – circa 289,700 tonnes – costs the UK’s hotels £318m each year. This figure definitely increases when entering luxury resort territory.
It therefore comes as no surprise that the desire to employ an effective and profitable approach to waste management is continuing to gain momentum in these arenas.
So, what role can composting play in extracting this resource potential?
When looking at the waste hierarchy, waste prevention and reuse should be prioritised above any other disposal method, but where this isn’t possible, attention should be given to recycling.
One institution blazing a trail in this respect is the University of Liverpool’s students’ union – The Liverpool Guild of Students.
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In 2015, the site invested in food waste drying and composting equipment, when it sought a solution that allowed it to both omit costly waste disposal fees and create a valuable resource to grow produce in the on-site rooftop gardens and cultivation plots – which are run by student volunteers.
In order to be able to compost autonomously, The Guild has separate food waste caddies in the campus kitchens. The content is emptied into the dewatering equipment by kitchen staff – where moisture content and weight are reduced – and the resulting material is fed into the composter to create a nutrient-rich fertiliser in 14 days.
Such a circular economy not only allows the site to grow food – that’s made freely available for both students and staff to consume – but it also decreases its number of waste disposal collections, and as a result, its carbon footprint.
“It’s encouraging that the concept
of ‘urban farming’ is making many facilities managers think about the wider possibilities when it comes to managing their food wastes.”
While this is just one example of an institution ‘doing its bit’ for the planet, this model – which reaps ethical, financial and resource benefits – is being employed across a plethora of industries worldwide, including luxury hotels such as Gili Lankanfushi in the Maldives.
It’s encouraging that the concept of ‘urban farming’ is making many facilities managers think about the wider possibilities when it comes to managing their food wastes, because ultimately, this will contribute to lowering the amount sent to landfill.
Given that a recent study – by The Ipsos MORI Issues Index – found the environment topping Britons’ second top concern after Brexit, it shows that this more cyclical and less linear mindset is very much welcomed.
www.tidyplanet.co.uk/ twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
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