AD trade body to hold briefing on food waste collection

food waste

  • Implementing separate food waste collections – lunch hosted by the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) on 15 June at the NEC Birmingham
  • Speakers will include senior representatives from Defra, Bracknell Forest Council, Bio Capital and Ashfords.

The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) last month launched its latest briefing1 entitled “Food Waste Recycling – Anaerobic Digestion: the net zero lever for Local Authorities”. The report highlights the benefits for Local Authorities (LAs) of adopting anaerobic digestion (AD) as a food waste recycling option to achieve net zero targets and save taxpayers’ money. This is the government’s preferred option in the Food and Drink Material hierarchy2 that has been designed to structure how food and drink surplus should be disposed of.

To offer additional support to LAs in rolling out separate food waste collections within the next few years, ADBA will be hosting a dedicated lunch on 15th June at the NEC Birmingham during its flagship event the World Biogas Expo.

The lunch will bring LA representatives together with investors, AD plant operators and all relevant stakeholders to discuss barriers and solutions for successfully integrating separate food waste collections to their waste management processes.

Speakers and topics at the briefing will include:

  • Naomi Fitzgibbons, Head of Household Waste and Recycling, the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
  • “Defra’s guidelines on implementing separate food waste collections”
    Donna Cox, Waste and Recycling Manager, Bracknell Forest Council
  • “Cleaning up – the positive returns on investment from separate food waste collections”
    Peter Sharpe, CEO, Bio Capital
  • “The benefits of food waste recycling”
    Brian Farrell, Partner, Energy & Waste, Ashfords
  • “Managing the change to food waste recycling in compliance with the new statutory duty”

“Over 300 councils in the UK have declared a Climate Emergency”, explains Charlotte Morton, ADBA Chief Executive. “Starting to collect their food waste – to both reduce and recycle it – will be a key step in the pathway to carbon neutrality. This lunch aims to provide the guidance necessary for Local Authorities to successfully implement the soon-to-be mandatory separate food waste collections and reap the benefits of recycling through anaerobic digestion, not only for the environment, but also in terms of cost-savings. This is a must-attend event for anyone responsible for municipal waste management in the UK.”

Click here for full programme and registration

Notes
(1) The ADBA Biogas Briefing series:
Biomethane: fuelling a transport revolution – June 2021
Biomethane and hydrogen: two green gases, one future – August 2021
Food waste recycling: anaerobic digestion, the net zero lever for Local Authorities – NEW!

food-waste-hierarchy
The food and drink material hierarchy.

(2) The food and drink material hierarchy orders the disposal options from the most to the least preferable – starting with the prevention of waste through redistribution to people and animals, and listing AD and the preferred recycling option when the material becomes “waste”.