HVAC
Not only is it transported off-site in large trucks, but vast amounts of energy are then used to process it. And if it is being converted into compost at a large-scale facility, it’s then re-loaded into yet another vehicle to various bagging plants, distribution centres, and ultimately, garden centres, across the country.
However, this can be avoided if FMs embrace innovation and harness on-site industrial composting technology. And by closing the loop on site, FMs are supporting clients’ corporate responsibility strategies to be more sustainable and lessen their environmental impact.
With this method, there’s no carbon footprint from off-site transportation costs, and it no longer appears in the ‘waste summary’ charts from third-party waste management partners. Instead, it’s a closed- loop model that helps the business to reduce both its carbon and its costs, fostering greater environmental and financial sustainability.
To make this a reachable reality though, language also needs to change. The term ‘waste’ should be swapped for food scraps, leftovers, and residues.
This will help to reprofile the material to be viewed as an opportunity, as opposed to a problem.
How Sodexo helped AstraZeneca
close the food waste loop AstraZeneca’s 100-acre manufacturing site – located in Cheshire – is one of the many organisations to have adopted such a model. It achieved this via its FM partner, Sodexo, who manages the delivery of the food service across the business.
The multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical giant needed a circular solution for the 24 tonnes of annual food and green waste being generated at its Cheshire site.
www.tomorrowsfm.com
This decision to close the food waste management loop at source formed part of AstraZeneca’s wider sustainability target to reduce waste and embrace a circular economy. And as part of this environmental commitment, the company is also aiming to achieve zero-carbon status, by 2025.
The Sodexo and AstraZeneca FM teams collectively reviewed the options, with the outcome being the purchase of an A900 Rocket Composter.
The introduction of the composter means that organic waste is now segregated in the restaurant kitchen, then fed into the on-site in-vessel composter – to create a nutrient-rich resource in just 14 days.
This has helped the firm save on off-site costs and carbon emissions, and the horticultural team also uses the resulting compost across the campus.
What’s next for food waste management in FM? Ultimately, through knowing what’s possible with on-site composting, and changing the way food ‘waste’ is managed and perceived, FM companies can enable their clients to take swift and meaningful action to both reduce their environmental impact and increase their bottom-line benefits.
The new food waste legislation, coupled with an even sharper focus on sustainability and carbon reduction, mean businesses want to see more innovation than ever before from their FM partners, in order to futureproof their operations. And on-site composting certainly offers some food for thought in this respect.
https://tidyplanet.co.uk TOMORROW’S FM | 51
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