According to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), around 9.5 million metric tonnes of food waste is thrown away in the UK each year. This is typically food scraps, leftovers, food items that have gone bad and contaminants like plastic packaging.
WHY IS FOOD WASTE AN ISSUE?
Food waste makes up around 20-30% of an average household residual waste bin, which causes many different issues for local authorities when planning or trying to improve waste-handling activities. These include:
- Increased Collection Costs: Food waste is heavy and can take up a fair amount of space in receptacles and RCVs. This increases the weight of waste collections, leading to higher fuel consumption and collection costs.
- Contamination in recycling streams: Food waste can contaminate recyclable packaging, rendering it unprocessable and leading to increased recycling costs.
- Waste Collection/Sorting: Food waste is complex and can be labour-intensive to separate at waste sorting facilities, slowing down sorting processes and increasing operational costs. Its corrosive nature can also accelerate wear and tear on equipment, leading to higher maintenance and replacement costs.
- Environmental Impact: When food waste ends up in landfills, it decomposes anaerobically and produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
If local authorities want to meet their sustainability targets, reduce environmental impact and save on operational costs, they need to consider reducing the amount of food waste within their local waste streams.
UTILISING WASTE COMPOSITION ANALYSIS TO UNDERSTAND FOOD WASTE
Analysing the composition of waste streams enables local authorities to capture data on the behaviours of residents within different socio-demographic areas and how they dispose of different types of items and materials at the kerbside.
A thorough compositional analysis can also identify specific types of food waste and associated packaging, helping to identify just how much food waste is in a residual household bin and how this differs geographically.
With this information, local authorities can implement effective strategies for collecting, separating and managing food waste, as well as educate residents about proper waste sorting and minimisation of specific materials such as unwanted food and packaging.
HOW CAN AHK HELP?
With over 25 years’ worth of experience in the waste and resources sector, clients trust Alfred H Knight to provide detailed information on their waste streams.
Our experts deliver swift, accurate and reliable waste analysis on food waste types and participation monitoring of separate food waste collections throughout the UK. If you would like to get in contact with an Alfred H Knight expert to see how we can help you build a comprehensive understanding of your waste streams, visit our website today using this link.
