WRAP Welcomes CLG Select Committee Report - and tips Anaerobic Digestion technology as key to unlocking hidden energy in food waste

WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) today welcomes the CLG Select Committee Report which underlines that where local authorities choose to introduce Alternate Weekly Collection (AWC) systems for refuse and recycling, they need to be well designed, properly implemented and appropriate for local conditions if they are to help divert waste from landfill and increase recycling rates.

WRAP has today published its revised guidance for local authorities who are considering introducing AWC services. The guidance directly addresses concerns regarding food waste, which has been seen as one of the major worries about AWC for householders. Based on new evidence from WRAP’s research, the guidance proposes that authorities who are considering introducing an AWC service should also consider weekly food collections for Anaerobic Digestion or composting. This view is also endorsed by the Select Committee report.

WRAP’s research shows that the separate collection of food waste is likely to be the most successful way of diverting that waste from landfill and anaerobic digestion is a good environmental option for dealing with it. The potential for food waste to be used as a source of energy in this way provides a glimpse of the future where discarded food such as dairy produce, fish, meat and vegetable peelings, become a common source of renewable energy and an organic fertilizer for crops.

Just as recycling takes what once was simply rubbish and turns it into new products such as newspapers, fleece jackets, drink cans and jam jars, so the food we throw away can also be recycled, recovering energy to provide electricity and heat for use in homes.

WRAP is currently working with seventeen local authorities across England to trial new services where household food waste is collected separately and taken to anaerobic digesters (AD) or in-vessel composting sites.  An AD plant breaks down the food waste releasing methane gas which is then converted into electricity for the National Grid.  The process takes place in a sealed vessel so that odours are contained within.

One of the AD plants already receiving household food waste is run by BIOGEN UK, at Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire. It is receiving about twelve tonnes of waste each week from a WRAP supported trial organised by Bedfordshire County Council. The BIOGEN process uses the remaining organic mixture as a nutrient valuable bio-fertiliser which goes back onto the adjacent arable farmland, run by sister company, Bedfordia Farms Ltd. This fertiliser is a good soil conditioner which saves buying fossil fuel based fertilisers.

The multi-million pound BIOGEN plant has been operating on a diet of pig slurry and food manufacturers’ waste since it started operations over a year ago. The company, which has plans to develop a national network of AD plants across the UK over the next 5 years, believes that household food waste can become a valuable ingredient to the process in the future.

”We think the WRAP funded trials are a significant step forward” said Rob Bates, Development Director of BIOGEN. “We now have three councils running food waste separation trials with us successfully. At BIOGEN we can help release the energy potential of this fuel thus helping local authorities meet their waste reduction targets and improve their overall carbon footprints”.

Dr Liz Goodwin WRAP’s CEO said: ‘Local authorities should take in to account the potential energy value of food waste when they consider their waste collection strategies. This, together with the fact that many residents feel strongly about weekly food waste collections, has led us to address the issue in our revised guidance.’

Dr Goodwin added: ‘The potential to harness the inbuilt energy and nutrients from household food waste is a significant step forward in diverting more waste from landfill. It also means action on climate change as the harmful methane gas that is emitted from food as it degrades can be diverted from the atmosphere and put to real practical use.’