LAWR

FOOD WASTE Kingdom's resource strategy? A Biogen spokesperson says: "Of course we would love to be in a position where the UK drastically reduces the amount of food waste it creates in the first place. After all the nation, and wider EU, has stringent targets to meet, plus 15 million tonnes of UK food waste per annum is said to equate to a finan- cial loss to business of at least £5 billion every year (Source: House of Lords' 'Counting the cost of food waste' report). "That's why we're encouraging all our customers to look at their in-house processes and identify the root cause of surplus food creation – when they see how much waste they're producing this acts as a huge catalyst for change. We're also helping them devise solu- tions to cost-effectively segregate and process the waste that they do gener- ate, enabling them to save money and uphold their commitment to the waste hierarchy. "Of course priority should be given to waste prevention and reuse, but anaerobic digestion is a valuable piece in the jigsaw of sensible recycling options." It seems that significant progress is being made, but further action is required. "Scotland's food waste revo- lution is achieving great things, and Wales is spearheading significant change," he adds. "With the infrastruc- ture in place and the industry in a less embryonic state, there is no reason why England cannot take similar steps forward. However, there is more work to be done. "Government support is very impor- tant, as are renewable energy incen- tives. But policies and communication strategies surrounding food waste need to be addressed if we are to force it out of landfill for good. "If we look at the waste hierarchy for example, labelling AD as a 'recov- ery' route is perhaps misleading. It undermines perhaps, the sophisticated nature of what is involved." Biogen's multi-faceted business model does indeed appear to be one of circularity. Biogen's approach to AD achieves a CO2 saving of 905kg/tonne (when compared with the impact of landfilled food waste), whilst reducing the UK's reliance on fossil fuel derived energy and fertiliser, thus increasing the country's resource security. "We take surplus organic materials and recycle them to produce valuable resources. The biofertiliser, for exam- ple, is produced to a defined PAS110 quality standard, and 90% of the elec- tricity we produce from our biogas is fed into the national grid which reduces our reliance on depleting fossil fuels. Really the word 'waste' shouldn't come into it." 12 Local Authority Waste & Recycling November 2014 odr ENHANCED flygo pro " We take surplus organic materials and recycle them to produce valuable resources "

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