On January 1st 2014 new legislation came into force in Scotland. The new law stated that all non-rural food businesses that produced over 50 Kg’s of food waste per week must present it for separate collections instead of putting it in the general waste bin where it will eventually end up going into landfill.
It has been three months since the introduction of the biggest piece of legislation to affect Scottish restaurants and catering kitchens. In that time, we have been helping our customers to change the way they see and manage their waste. It’s been a busy period but our own research has found that whilst almost all of the commercial kitchens are aware of the changes, only 34% had actually taken any action by the end of January.
This is a worrying statistic as those kitchens that do not change their waste practises could not only face fines of up to £10,000 from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) but they are also missing out on cost savings that can be made from segregating their waste streams.
The introduction of these new regulations will see kitchens north of the border properly disposing of their waste. We ask the question - is it now time that the rest of the UK should be undertaking similar regulation to get its food waste issues under control?
It was estimated that in 2008 alone, the UK sent 288.6million tonnes of waste to landfill, of which 2.671million tonnes was produced by the hotel and catering industry. The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IME) reported that last year almost half of food worldwide is wasted throughout the supply chain.
Sending food waste to landfill is throwing away a valuable resource. As food waste degrades it produces methane, which has a high calorific value and stores the potential to generate power. It is this powerful resource that we at Olleco collect and recycle, via anaerobic digestion, to create power which is fed back to the National Grid.
Whilst there remains no legal imperative to recycle food waste, there are sound financial and environmental reasons to do so. Management might initially grumble about the fact that they have to invest in new facilities and training in order to manage the separation of organic waste, but this initial investment will soon be off-set by the savings achieved through increased recycling and better sustainability management.
The amount of food waste we produce in this country is staggering but there is a solution. At Olleco we see resources where others see waste and know that organic waste has another life after it has been thrown away. We all have a part to play in reducing the amount of food waste produced and it’s time to utilise the services available to tackle very real problems.
Here’s something to take away with you – the next time you are enjoying a meal out, why not ask if the restaurant recycles their food waste? If they don’t you can suggest they contact Olleco.
Our food waste collection service operates nationally, so if you would like more information please visit: www.olleco.co.uk or call 08448 200 200.