Food, glorious food

Food waste in Europe is a massive problem. Dr David Kidby discusses how different countries deal with their organic refuse and looks at one small area in Wales which is setting an example by combating the problem on a local scale...

Food waste collected from Anglesey households.

The climate change agenda is prominent across the globe, together with measures to reduce the production of greenhouse gases. In Europe, the disposal of MSW to landfill is discouraged by the Landfill Directive and escalating landfill tax. Local authorities have been challenged to meet landfill diversion targets, and in a recent proposed strategy in Wales, ambitious kerbside recycling targets are likely to be on the cards. Meirion Edwards, Anglesey County Council's Chief Waste Management Officer, sees collecting food waste as a significant mechanism for achieving future targets and highlights his approach, with reference to the European experience of food waste collection.

Food waste is a growing issue, and the disposal of it is controversial, given increased food prices and the resources required. Food waste makes up an estimated 8.4% by weight of municipal solid waste in the United States, and on average in the UK, each household buys 16.5 kg of food a week and throws a third of it away.

European examples

So what is happening throughout Europe to treat the food waste generated? In 1989, the US Report 'Facing America's Trash, What next for Municipal Solid Waste?' identified that European countries were already starting to recycle food waste. There were 71 source separation projects operating in West Germany, serving 430,000 households and collecting an estimated 91 kg per person of organic waste a year. Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Italy were also becoming heavily involved, with France, Belgium and the UK seen as lagging behind.

In 2006, the picture in Europe had changed, and a paper reporting on the status of organic waste recycling in the EU suggested that, with the exception of Greece, large parts of Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland, all the old European countries, had started to collect organic waste separately to recycle it. Across Europe 1800 commercial composting sites were identified, treating 17 million tonnes of organic waste. Treatment of food waste by Anaerobic Digestion (AD) was also reported – with an estimated total capacity of 3.5 million tonnes. The trend to collect and treat food waste with AD in Germany and Austria was seen to be increasing, driven by subsidies for renewable energy.

European legislation and individual countries' waste policies drive the separate collection of food waste. Austria, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Sweden have waste policies that are implemented nationally. These countries have pioneered separate food waste collection systems. The UK has now begun to tap into the experience of these other countries. Growing numbers of local authorities across the UK have begun to look at running such a service. There are two main choices, the first co-collecting food with garden waste, and the second collecting food waste separately. The separate food waste collection service gives better capture rates, averaging 25%–30% in comparison to co-collected yields of 10%–20%.

The Welsh take the lead

The Isle of Anglesey's County Council operate a fortnightly collection of residual waste, and three years ago identified that collecting and treating food waste was an important method of diverting significant amounts of household waste from landfill.

Chief Waste Management Officer Edwards and his team had been studying the progress being made by some of the first councils in the UK which were collecting food waste, and saw an opportunity to introduce this to the island. 'We are committed to reaching the ambitious landfill diversion targets set for us. The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) is acutely aware of Wales' eco-footprint and a proposed future waste strategy currently under consultation aims to make Wales a one planet country,' he said.

Jane Davidson AM, Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing, confirms WAG's support for the collection of food waste: 'It is essential that food waste collections are provided to as many households in Wales as is practicable, and as soon as possible. The Welsh Assembly Government has provided a lot of support to local authorities, to help in their collection of food waste and they have received additional revenue for the collection of food waste through the Sustainable Waste Management Grant (SWMG).'

'It is frightening how much food waste is thrown out and goes to landfill, so we decided that separate food waste collection could be the way forward,' said Edwards. Before beginning a collection service it was critical to have an alternative method of disposal, and a partnership was developed with Gwynedd and Conwy, the neighbouring local authorities, to build an in-vessel composting plant that could treat the food waste mixed with green garden waste. This was constructed on the island at Penhesgyn; commissioned in November 2008 and opened in March 2009.

'Having a facility to treat food waste is only one half of the equation. The households in Anglesey need to be able to collect their food waste in a quick and easy manner, so we were keen to explore how other local authorities were achieving this,' reflects Edwards. In September 2008, 39 local authorities in the UK were running food waste trials or services, and responses were received from 23 of them. Of these, 19 authorities were collecting food waste separately, the rest were co-collecting with garden waste.

'The separate collection of food waste looked to be the better option, as we believed householders would prefer to put their food waste in a dedicated container rather than tip it into their green waste bin. We began to explore this option in more detail and how best to get households used to a new collection system,' explains Edwards.

A recent study commissioned by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) examining why householders do or do not take part in food waste collection schemes, confirmed Edwards's suspicions. The study of 4431 households across six local authorities highlighted a range of complex factors that shaped the enthusiasm householders had and the effectiveness of different collection systems. The largest quantities of food waste are collected from households that receive a weekly collection of food waste with a fortnightly residual waste collection.

Meirion Edwards showing the Minister the food waste collection bin.

'Focusing households' attention on food waste and ensuring it is collected to provide a clean feedstock was a challenge both logistically and from a communications perspective, so it was important to work closely with our collection contractors, Verdant, and our communications team, Acer Marketing Communications, to make food waste collection successful,' points out Edwards. 'While we knew that separate collection was the way forward, we were unsure which container systems would prove most effective. It became clear that a trial was needed,' reflects Edwards.

Trial methods

Food waste can be collected in two ways. In a fortnightly co-mingled collection with garden waste, householders are asked to tip their food waste into their green garden waste wheelie bin. In a separate system, a kerbside lockable container is provided together with a kitchen caddy.

The kitchen caddy can be of a solid wall construction, known as a sealed caddy or a vented caddy. The vented caddy requires a compostable starch liner to be used, and this can either be supplied with the caddy or households are asked to purchase them by some local authorities. In Italy, households were supplied initially with sealed caddies on the basis that they were perceived to store more food waste securely. The use of vented caddies has become more common as the collection service has progressed with the perceived advantage that moisture is allowed to escape through the corn starch liner, slowing the rotting process and reducing problems associated with odours and leachate production.

While the trial was being designed, Anglesey County Council began to raise awareness of the amount of food wasted each year by households. 'We must be more ambitious and move resource management up the waste hierarchy as much as possible. This means expending a lot more effort on waste minimization and a lot more effort on reuse, recycling and composting,' said Jane Davidson. So, they began promoting the shocking fact that half the food being thrown away is perfectly good, suggesting the freezer was their friend and highlighting the national 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign.

'We linked the amount of food being thrown away that could have been preserved or simply not bought in the first place to the amount of money they could save. On average, that's a staggering £420 ($685) a year and is very welcome in credit crunch Britain,' states Edwards.

At a local level they partnered with the North Wales Chronicle, running a 'leftovers' competition for nine weeks – publishing recipes from local residents and organizations, including the Air Ambulance and the Women's Institute (originally founded on Anglesey). This culminated in the production of a recipe booklet of winning recipes and a family meal out for the winner.

The food waste collection trial began in February 2009 with a month of promotion before the delivery of the kitchen caddies and bins. 'Getting people on board was a key part of the success of this trial, ensuring residents knew what was happening and how important their feedback would be to shaping the future collection service,' said Edwards.

Appropriate properties across six areas of the island were selected, ensuring a mixture of rural and urban locations and different household demographics. 'After careful planning we took our plans to our council members and were pleased to receive their complete support. Letters inviting residents to participate were well received and we held a number of "surgeries" for residents to come and see the caddies and bins they would use,' explains Edwards.

Residents received their caddies, bins and instruction leaflets at the end of January and collections in the trial commenced on the first week in February. As the bins were delivered, and throughout the first few weeks, a team of people went door-to-door to answer questions, encourage participation, and recording feedback.

A total of 5642 households participated in the trial; 985 properties received vented kitchen caddies with compostable liners, 657 properties received sealed caddies with no liner, and the rest received sealed caddies with liners. During the 12 week trial nearly 128 tonnes of food waste was collected with a participation rate of 54%.

'Close analysis of the figures shows that participation was low in areas where there were holiday homes. Perhaps, not surprisingly, we also saw lower participation in households that did not get a liner. The "yuck factor" clearly puts people off, and our trial showed that most households either participate and continue, or do not participate at all. We were pleased that the levels of contamination we see from participating households is very low, showing they get to grips with it quite quickly,' reports Edwards.

The bigger picture

In Wales, the Welsh Assembly has recently set out what are believed to be the first UK targets for sorting recyclables at source in their 'Towards Zero Waste' strategy consultation document. The strategy seeks to achieve 70% recycling or composting of waste and make Wales a zero waste society by 2050.

Minister Jane Davidson with a food waste caddy and mini food waste bin

As Anglesey begins to consider its strategy to support Wales' move towards zero waste, food waste collection from the kerbside is likely to become an important tool. 'While we want Anglesey's households to minimize their food waste and save themselves some money, we now understand the best method is to collect the food waste they generate at the kerbside and contribute to the proposed 80% source separation target. The public perception of food waste is that it simply rots away to nothing because it is organic. They now understand that it actually goes to a landfill where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Giving them a collection system they are happy with and an understanding of the financial and economic consequences of not collecting their food waste, is working well,' concludes Edwards.

The diversion of food waste from landfill is set to gather pace in the UK with the Chancellor having announced £10 million ($16 million) of additional funding for 2009/10 to develop anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting facilities for food waste across the UK. This provides financial assistance towards the capital costs of plant, equipment and infrastructure, for food waste processing including anaerobic digesters. An Anaerobic Digestion Task Group, has also been established to lead the development of an implementation plan for anaerobic digestion, helping to identify and remove barriers to its uptake. Following the successful trials of an anaerobic digestion plant treating food waste in Ludlow, Shropshire, interest in this technology as the preferred option for treating food waste is growing all over the country – as it yields valuable methane that can be harnessed to produce renewable energy.

Dr David Kidby writes for Acer Marketing Communications
e-mail: David@acercomms.co.uk