legislation
What does it mean for the bakery industry?
The 2023 food waste legislation:
Nathan Gray, Head of Sustainability at Reconomy speaks with Kiran Grewal, Editor of Kennedy’s Bakery Production, on new legislation that will implicate bakery businesses with a high volume of food waste.
The environmental act 2021 comes fully into effect in 2023, with substantial implications for any business producing food waste.
One-third of all food produced in the world is wasted, equivalent to 1.3 billion tons of grain. This food is lost or spoiled at various stages of production, from the farm to the consumer. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that this wasted food is enough to feed every starving person on the planet. Every year, 680,000 tonnes of bakery waste are thrown away in the UK, at a cost of £1.1 billion. Of this, 80% of the waste comes from packs that have been opened but not finished. But bakery waste isn’t just a social or humanitarian concern – it’s an environmental one too. When food waste goes to landfill, it rots and releases methane – a greenhouse gas that is 25% more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
A sustainable roadmap for the future of society This is why the Environment Act 2021 came about, it was passed by the UK government in 2021 and will come into effect this year. This Act requires businesses to separate food waste from their general waste and have it collected separately. This is a significant step towards reducing food waste and its environmental impact. The passed legislation will support the UK government’s commitment to the United Nations’
Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a collection of 17 interconnected goals that aim to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” Goal 12 of the SDGs is to halve food waste by 2030. All UK businesses will have to comply with the new legislation, but those affected the most will be businesses operating within the retail, hospitality, healthcare, and education sectors. These sectors produce a much higher volume of food waste than other sectors, so they will need to make significant changes to their practices in order to comply with the new law.
The new legislation states that: • Food waste and general waste must be kept separate for collection.
• Food waste cannot be sent to landfill or incineration It must be recycled, either through composting or anaerobic digestion.
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Macerators and liquidising digesters, which chop and flush food waste down drains using high volumes of water, will be banned completely in England this year. These units have already been banned in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
• Dry or dewatered food waste will still be permitted, as these systems can significantly reduce the volume of food waste, making it easier and more cost-effective to collect.
•
Businesses will be responsible for paying all fees associated with recycling waste.
“Every year, 680,000 tonnes of bakery waste are thrown away in the UK, at a cost of £1.1 billion. Of this, 80% of the waste comes from packs that have been opened but not finished”
26 Kennedy’s Bakery Production August/September 2023
bakeryproduction.co.uk
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