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ANAEROBIC DIGESTION households within the area and streamline costs. Food waste recycling is pivotal to their success to date, with more than 9,000 tonnes of food waste per year diverted from landfill and processed through AD at an average of 1.7kg per household, per week. The service has delivered savings to the partnership of £1.2m per annum. A recent survey of 1,100 households in the area showed that about 50% of the residents were aware that the food waste collected is being treated at AD facilities and that there was an overall service satisfaction rating of 90%. The partnership is confident of increasing rates yet further. It sends its food waste to a local AD plant. South and Vale strategic director Matt Prosser says: "We established this as part of our new waste service some years ago and it has gone very smoothly in most cases. We do still have issues with people putting food waste in the residual waste bin, Laboratory Services to the Environmental Sector much of this is down to being lazy or not knowing what it the right thing to do. We are currently running a new communications campaign reminding residents what goes in which bin and what happens to the contents of their three bins once we take it away. "Clearly one of the major opportunities when introducing a food waste collection is firstly driving up you recycling collection figures as food waste is heavy and the double bonus is an immediate reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfill." Register now | Energy Recovery 2014 For more on the latest trends, technology and best practice in the AD sector, register now for Energy Recovery, part of Sustainability Live at Birmingham's NEC on April 1-3. Search 'suslive' Prestressed Concrete Retaining and Storage Walls Silage Clamps Tanks NRM offers an unrivalled approach towards analytical testing services to the environmental sector encompassing the following key attributes/services: • Analysis of Recycled Gypsum (PAS109) • Organics Recycling Group approved Laboratory (PAS100) • Analysis associated with EA Deployments • REA appointed Laboratory (PAS110) • Analysis of Topsoil to BS3882:2007 • Feedstock and Process Analysis Bund Walls Security Walls Arrow Panels • UKAS Accredited Laboratory • Soils analysis under QPs • Fast Turnaround • Waste Acceptance Testing • Customer focussed service Bulk Retaining Waste Transfer For more information please contact Sean Stevenson: Tel: 01344 898 467 Mobile: 07825 177 895 Email: sean.stevenson@nrm.uk.com Storage Bunkers www.nrm.uk.com Part of the Cawood Scientific Group ACP (Concrete) Ltd Manufacturers & Suppliers sales@acp-concrete.co.uk CE Marked www.acp-concrete.co.uk In contrast, over a million households in Scotland have access to a food waste collection. There are seven AD plants in the country with the capacity to process 250,000t of food waste. Zero Waste Scotland head of market development Louise McGregor says the main challenge facing Scotland going forward is making the most of material that comes out of digesters. She adds: "We have got things in place for sending the food waste to digesters but we want to make the best of the material that comes out." However, there are many councils in England that are also implementing successful food waste collections. The South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils are the top two recycling counties in England, with recycling rates of 67.9% and 68.7%, respectively. The pair have recently formed a joint venture, South and Vale, to provide shared services to the 110,000 Tel: 01889 598660 Fax: 01889 568160 2334 Organics Recycling Group Renewable Energy Association PAS110 Approved Testing Laboratory Part of the Thomas Armstrong Group of Companies January 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 23

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