Scotland Leading The Way In Food Waste Recycling

England should follow Scotland’s example when it comes to food waste recycling, as it is losing out on valuable renewable energy that could be created through anaerobic digestion (AD) of the waste products.

This is the opinion of Philip Simpson, commercial director at food waste recycler ReFood, who commented on recent figures from Zero Waste Scotland. The report revealed food waste recycling north of the border increased by 40 per cent between 2013 and 2017.

As a result of this, 40,000 tonnes of CO2 was saved from being released into the environment due to a massive reduction in landfill over the four-year period, the National reported.

The reason behind this is legislation passed in 2012 obligating Scottish businesses that produce more than 5kg of food per week to recycle their waste. However, there is no such law in England, which is why it is falling behind its neighbour when it comes to reducing its carbon emissions.

Speaking with the news provider, Mr Simpson said: “In stark comparison, food waste recycling in England is still optional despite compelling statistics demonstrating the potential of CO2 emissions reduction, the amount of renewable energy that could be harnessed via anaerobic digestion of the waste, as well as the money and resources that could be saved.”

He noted that proposals for uniform recycling collections were dismissed by the Local Government Association in England, while there is a standardised system in Scotland.

However, with Brits throwing away more than seven million tonnes of food waste a year, there is a lot of potential to utilise AD methods to treat the rubbish in a positive way.

This is particularly the case as the government committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to almost zero by 2050 just last month.

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