Food waste collections: Research and evidence

Chris Mills Programme Area Manager Food Waste Collections

Total estimated UK arisings of food (and drink) waste is ~15 million tonnes per year       7.2mt household 3.2mt

food manufacturing (industrial) 0.6mt

0.4mt

hospitality retail/distribution 0.1mt

3.0mt

schools other: commercial/agriculture/hospitals

• • • • •

Trends

Significant rise in food services to households Recent growth in separate collections Drivers of LF Tax, targets, service improvement Contribution to National Targets Room for further capture

Kitchen caddies – all scheme types

Combined garden/food waste

Kerbside buckets for separate food collection

Food only –

dedicated

Co-collection

-300 -400 -500 -600

Emissions from in vessel composting 1 tonne of food waste

100 0 -100 Collection (15 miles) Transfer to IVC site (15 miles) IVC emissions (diesel & electric) IVC composting emissions avoided emissions from landfill Net emissions -200

Life Cycle Stage

Correlation between participation and deprivation 2.5

2 1.5

1 0.5

0 0 10 20 30 40

Index of Multiple Deprivation

50 60 70

Weekly food – different refuse frequencies Fortnightly refuse Weekly refuse 1.9

1.8

1.7

1.6

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

1.1

1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Number of weeks from trial roll-out

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Combined garden and food systems

• • • • • • Typically lower capture – frequency and mixing with garden issues Frequent waste composition is essential Seasonality Refuse Collection Vehicle and wheeled bin collection IVC destination High additional treatment cost

WRAP cost and operational performance benchmarks

• Indicative cost and performance data by rurality grouping • Industry capex/opex benchmarks • Gross costs of options • Net costs • Round sizes • Pick rates

Non-participation in food waste collections

• Importance of frequency • Single biggest factor is always - “we don’t produce enough food waste” • Concerns about hygiene, odour or vermin raised by non-participants – not participants • No concern over container numbers

Hospitality & Food Service Agreement

•

Prevention target:

Reduce food and associated packaging waste arising by 5% by the end of 2015.

This would be against a 2012 baseline and be measured by CO 2 e emissions •

Waste management target:

Increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste being recycled, sent to Anaerobic Digestion or composted to at least 70% by the end of 2015.

• Business benefits (25% of sector achieve targets) = £76m net savings to business and 570,000 tonnes CO 2 e saving

But few current SME collections…     SMEs unwilling to pay extra Recruitment can be difficult; price, convenience, space, contract terms Very low take up by telesales/ direct mail; need pre-arranged visits Refuse charges made by lift not weight

• • • •

Recent Work on Business Food Collections

Published business case Funded commercial collection demonstration projects Development of new web tools and guidance New cost calculator for businesses to identify cost and performance of options

• • • • •

Business benefits

Significant savings upstream Using yield data from collections to inform stock control Savings for larger businesses Collaborative procurement opportunities New WRAP report on “True Cost of Food Waste” for businesses

Depackaging Feedstock supply

• • • • •

Macerators

Ban in Scotland from 2016 Defra CBA for HH collections on environmental and financial grounds collection favoured WRAP CBA on NHS food options ZWS – monitoring on NHS sites Concerns raised over sewer impact and measuring diversion

Web support

WRAP websites across the UK Supporting households, Authorities and businesses on food waste management • • • • • Love Food Hate Waste Resource Efficient Scotland Business Resource Efficiency Hub SME Food Collections Local Authority Advisory support 27

Current Collections Work 2013-14

1. Collections from public sector and food manufacturers 2. Further research on liners and de-packaging 3. Disseminating work on commercial collections 4. Developing business support tools 5. Interventions to improving performance of household food waste collections

Considerations in previous landfill bans or regions setting high targets

• • • • • • • Business case and cost of options Reviewing current performance Communications for scheme changes De-packaging infrastructure for commercial collections Treatment contract implications Business facing support Monitoring and enforcement

Further Information:

www.wrap.org.uk

WRAP Northern Ireland The Mount 2 Woodstock Link Belfast BT6 8DD Tel: 028 9073 7290