“Household food waste is a significant issue in the UK, with around 6 million tonnes thrown away each year. This is roughly equivalent to one in every five bags of shopping and costs the average family of four about £700 annually. The production of wasted food also contributes substantially to global greenhouse gas emissions.
“The new simpler recycling legislation requires local councils to collect food waste separately on a weekly basis. Not only will this enable the country to process each material in the most appropriate way, whether through recycling, energy recovery, or landfill, it will also help households to see and reflect on the amount of food they are discarding. Increased awareness can encourage behaviour change and ultimately reduce food waste at source, lowering the environmental burden associated with farming, food production, and supply chains.
“However, translating these ambitions into practice is proving challenging for many local authorities.
“Despite receiving funding from Defra, councils face major practical challenges: such as procuring the required vehicles, which are currently in high demand; supplying caddies to households; establishing new operational systems; and forming partnerships with facilities that are capable of anaerobic digestion – turning food waste into useful energy. Some councils also have existing long‑term waste contracts that are difficult to alter.
“Additionally, they must recruit new staff to operate collection services and manage these expanded waste streams. These changes inevitably take time to implement, and it is far better for councils to introduce them properly and sustainably than to rush the process and risk operational or environmental compromises.”
ENDS
For further comments or interview requests with Dr Elliot Woolley, please email the Loughborough University PR team or call 01509 222224.