Implementing separate food waste collections – a dedicated lunch briefing for Local Authorities
Implementing separate food waste collections – a dedicated lunch briefing for Local Authorities
Anaerobic digestion trade body to host event at the World Biogas Expo, Birmingham on 15th June
- Separate food waste collections are expected to be rolled out across the UK from 2023 onwards.
- Lunch hosted by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) on 15th June at the NEC Birmingham will highlight benefits of recycling food waste through anaerobic digestion – the government’s preferred option after prevention and redistribution.
- Speakers will include senior representatives from Defra, Bracknell Forest Council, Bio Capital and Ashfords.
The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) last month launched its latest Biogas Briefing (1) entitled “Food Waste Recycling – Anaerobic Digestion: the net zero lever for Local Authorities”. The report highlights the benefits for Local Authorities (LAs) of adopting anaerobic digestion (AD) as a food waste recycling option to achieve net zero targets and save taxpayers’ money. This is the government’s preferred option in the Food and Drink Material hierarchy (2) that has been designed to structure how food and drink surplus should be disposed of.
To offer additional support to LAs in rolling out separate food waste collections within the next few years, ADBA will be hosting a dedicated lunch on 15th June at the NEC Birmingham during its flagship event the World Biogas Expo.
The lunch will bring LA representatives together with investors, AD plant operators and all relevant stakeholders to discuss barriers and solutions for successfully integrating separate food waste collections to their waste management processes.
Speakers and topics at the briefing will include:
- Naomi Fitzgibbons, Head of Household Waste and Recycling, the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
“Defra’s guidelines on implementing separate food waste collections” - Donna Cox, Waste and Recycling Manager, Bracknell Forest Council
“Cleaning up – the positive returns on investment from separate food waste collections” - Peter Sharpe, CEO, Bio Capital
“The benefits of food waste recycling” - Brian Farrell, Partner, Energy & Waste, Ashfords
“Managing the change to food waste recycling in compliance with the new statutory duty”
“Over 300 councils in the UK have declared a Climate Emergency”, explains Charlotte Morton, ADBA Chief Executive. “Starting to collect their food waste – to both reduce and recycle it – will be a key step in the pathway to carbon neutrality. This lunch aims to provide the guidance necessary for Local Authorities to successfully implement the soon-to-be mandatory separate food waste collections and reap the benefits of recycling through anaerobic digestion, not only for the environment, but also in terms of cost-savings. This is a must-attend event for anyone responsible for municipal waste management in the UK.”
Click here for full programme and registration
(1) The ADBA Biogas Briefing series:
Biomethane: fuelling a transport revolution – June 2021
Biomethane and hydrogen: two green gases, one future – August 2021
Food waste recycling: anaerobic digestion, the net zero lever for Local Authorities – NEW!
(2) The food and drink material hierarchy orders the disposal options from the most to the least preferable – starting with the prevention of waste through redistribution to people and animals, and listing AD and the preferred recycling option when the material becomes “waste”.
Source: WRAP
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For further information and to request media accreditation, please contact:
Jocelyne Bia, Senior Communications Consultant
e: Jocelyne.Bia@adbioresources.org ; tel: +44 (0)20 3176 0592
Notes to Editors
- About food waste recycling in the UK
- The UK generates 9.5m tonnes of food waste per year – 69% of which comes from households. The average household produces 243kg of food waste every year.
- In its Resources and Waste Strategy (2018), the UK government has set a target of getting 65% of municipal waste recycled by 2035
- It will allocate £291m of funding for Local Authorities from 2023/24
- The waste sector accounts for 4% of all greenhouse gases emitted in the UK – 75% of which come from landfill – the government is considering banning sending organic matter to landfill by 2028.
- 1m tonnes of food waste is sent to landfill each year, releasing 24,000 tonnes of methane – the equivalent of emissions from 950,000 cars
- Only 20% of food waste is recycled either through AD or composting
- And additional 4Mt of food waste must be diverted to AD every year if the UK is to achieve its recycling target for municipal household waste under the Circular Economy Package.
- Separate food waste collections in Wales have led to a 12% decrease in food being wasted.
- The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) is the trade association for the UK anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry. ADBA’s vision is to see the full potential of the UK AD industry realised so it can help the UK achieve its emissions targets and other policy goals, creating a truly circular economy. www.adbioresources.org
- How AD works
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the natural breakdown of organic matter when deprived of oxygen in a container called digester. The process produces biogas and a biofertiliser called digestate. The graphic below shows the applications of biogas and digestate and circularity of the AD process.
