Over the past few years, food waste has become a more socially recognised problem.
According to WRAP, it is estimated 9.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away each year in the UK, this waste will produce a shocking 25 million tonnes of CO2. In fact, studies show that if food waste was a country, it would be the 3rd largest contributor to climate change in the world.
Mandatory Food Waste Collections
Legislative reforms are being put in place that will make kerbside food waste collection mandatory across England and Wales from 2025. Evidence has proven that providing residents with a bag to line their bins, often increases participation rates, boosting the organic waste collection yield for the authority, and significantly reducing the tonnage of waste being sent to EfW or Landfill - so which bag is best?
Polythene vs. Compostable
Polythene sacks may have a longer better shelf-life than their compostable counterparts, and on the face of it they are also comparatively cost-effective. However, the use of polyethene liners increases the risk of plastic contamination entering the digestate/compost waste stream, posing an ecological threat when applied to agricultural land as fertiliser.
Although sometimes challenging to debag in the AD process, studies have found compostable bags to have an effective balance of reasonable costs. Despite the higher unit cost of a compostable liner, their application in practice is proven to promote higher participation rates from residents whilst simultaneously reducing contamination from other, non-organic waste materials. Cromwell supplies compostable liners which conform to industry composting standards EN13432, which requires more than 90% of the plastic mass to convert into biomass, CO2 and water, with no harmful residue. Alex Lee, Commercial Director at Cromwell states,
“Procuring compostable liners that conform to industry standard is important to ensure the liners are in fact compostable and not an alternative material that could cause disruption and harm to the food waste recycling effort”.
Cromwell have developed a range of compostable liners specifically for the local authority market, available from stock and already being used by millions of households across the United Kingdom. Please contact our sales team for more information and guidance on which liner is best for your operations
