‘Eliminating UK food waste would make a terawatt-hour of power’
Posted on 12 November 2013 by Vicky Ellis
Can we learn to send less food waste to landfill? A British recycling firm thinks the UK can – and it has launched a roadmap laying out how to save billions of pounds worth of food.
The plan also claims eliminating food waste in households, businesses and the public sector would generate more than 1 terrawatt-hour (Twh) electricity a year, enough to power over 600,000 homes.
In the UK 14.8million tonnes of food scraps are chucked away throughout the supply chain according to food waste recycler ReFood and charity BioRegional.
They want a gradual ban on food waste as well as compulsory separate collections of food waste and they think scraps should be used to make renewable energy with anaerobic digestion.
Their Vision 2020 food waste plan suggests if the country is food waste-free by 2020 it would save the UK economy more £17bn a year and stop 27 million tonnes of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere each year.
Philip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood said: “Food waste is a valuable resource that should never end up in landfill sites. Everyone from the food producer, through to the retailer, the restaurant and the householder can play their part in ensuring that we take full advantage of its considerable potential by ensuring we re-use, recycle and recover every nutrient and kilowatt of energy it has to offer.”
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Article source: http://www.energylivenews.com/2013/11/12/%E2%80%98eliminating-uk-food-waste-would-make-a-terawatt-hour-of-power%E2%80%99/
