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FS-Organics-Food Waste National Waste Reporting 2013 FACTSHEET – FOOD WASTE The quantity of food waste sent to landfill is greater than for any other material category for both the MSW and C&I waste streams1. In 2010–11, the amount of food waste sent to landfill as a proportion of total reported waste for municipal solid waste (MSW) was 30 per cent for New South Wales and 46 per cent for Victoria, and 15 per cent for the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector for both New South Wales and Victoria2. The majority of the total food waste generated is also sent to landfill. For example, in Victoria over 80 per cent of the total food waste went to landfill (see Table 1). Table 1 Waste treatment as a percentage of the total food waste generation in NSW and Victoria in 2010–11. Waste treatment New South Wales Victoria Disposal to landfill 67% 82% Recycling 13% 2% Energy recovery 20% 16% Source: Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia. Food may become waste at different points along the supply chain including at the production, transportation, processing, distribution, purchase and post consumption stages. Although food waste has a low recovery rate at present there are multiple benefits to increased waste avoidance and recovery including: • increased food security by more effective food management. • reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions may be avoided in production, transportation and storage of food that then becomes waste. Food waste is also one of the main sources of methane generation in landfill. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential significantly greater than carbon dioxide. The net impact of recycling food waste in the C&I sector is the avoidance of 0.25 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of food waste3. • other environmental benefits such as retention of nutrients by converting waste into compost and soil amendment products and energy recovery from waste. • social benefits, including addressing social disadvantage by providing food to people in need; and enabling charities to spend less of their budget on food and more on other goods and services. • economic benefits, including reduced costs for households, businesses and other enterprises (e.g. reduced purchase of food that becomes waste, labour cost in preparing food that goes to waste, avoiding landfill levies in disposal), market development, expansion and job creation. 1 These percentages are derived from NSW and Victoria figures for 2010–2011 in Waste generation and resource recovery in Australia. These are the two jurisdictions that report against waste streams. 2 NSW and Victoria are the only two jurisdictions that report specifically against food waste. 3 A study into C&I commercial and industrial (C&I) waste and recycling in Australia by industry division 1 Barriers and opportunities to reduce waste and improve resource recovery Municipal solid waste stream One of the biggest opportunities is in the further recovery of food from the MSW waste stream. An increasing number of councils are considering, trialling or implementing food organics recycling. Mixed solid waste, including organic material, may also be processed by alternative waste treatment infrastructure, however the infrastructure availability and capacity currently may limit this option. There may be local drivers that facilitate the recovery of food waste. For example, due to high landfill and waste disposal costs there has been a significant move in the Sydney metropolitan area to kerbside collection and processing of food and garden organics. Nationally, as at May 2012, 6.8 per cent of local councils offered a kerbside recycling service for food, which represents a total of 10.3 per cent of the population with access to this service4. Commercial and industrial waste stream The most effective recovery of food waste occurs when it is separated at the source from the rest of the waste stream. Some sources of food waste, particularly unpackaged, fresh produce and manufacturing wastes, can be separated relatively easily. Barriers to separation of food waste include: • ongoing implementation costs e.g. staff training and labour, even if this may only be a perception. • collection services may not be readily accessible, particularly for small to medium sized businesses. • many organics recovery systems do not tolerate any contamination and are often focused on food preparation waste. Post-consumer waste may be contaminated with disposable items such as plastic straws, sauce sachets or contain meat bones or other items not accepted by collection services. Food waste has a large economic cost and is a dominant input cost for the C&I sector. The estimated input cost for purchasing food organics that are then disposed of is $8.2 billion for waste to landfill and $2.3 billion for waste that is recycled5. While there will be unavoidable food waste, even small percentage improvements in reducing unnecessary food wastage has financial benefits and there will be benefits to business in understanding the full cost of waste, including input costs. A 2013 study into C&I waste and recycling by industry division identified two sub-divisions for priority action: the retail trade (food retail) and the accommodation and food services (food servicing) sectors. These sectors generate large amounts of waste in total, generate a high proportion of waste per employee i.e. have a high waste ‘intensity’, and have high levels of recoverable material, including food waste, sent to landfill. 4 Recycling Near You 2012. Recycling service accessibility, unpublished. 5 Based on 2010-2011 figures in A study into C&I commercial and industrial (C&I) waste and recycling in Australia by industry division 2 In the food retail sector, 37 per cent of the total waste sent to landfill is specifically attributed to food waste. A further ‘unknown’ category of 50 per cent of the total waste generation is also likely to include food waste6. Food retailing has a high proportion of small to medium businesses which increases the challenge of achieving good recycling rates in this sector. These enterprises may not be able to readily access recycling services as they may not generate a viable amount of waste for collection. There are some substantial gains being made in waste avoidance in the supermarket sector through the heavy discounting of perishables as they approach the ‘use by date’ expiry and systems for stock control. Small food retailers appear to have a wide range of food waste and the degree to which their produce is perishable will influence the amount of food waste generated. Guidance material for food retail and food and beverage services businesses to develop and implement strategies for separating food waste from their general waste stream for either on-site or off-site treatment may assist with recovery rates. Unsold product is significant in retail trade. It is likely that there could be increased avoidance of waste through: • more refined ordering of stock to suit requirements • finding alternative mechanisms for disposing of unused stock (e.g. food rescue charities) • supplier take-back of unsold stock. There is significant diversity in the amount of C&I waste generated by cafes, restaurants, takeaway outlets and caterers. Cafes generally undertake less cooking and food preparation on site than other outlets and can manage inventories better as a result. Restaurants have both high food preparation waste and post-consumer waste and over half of the general waste stream from restaurants may be food. Take-away outlets may have a high proportion of waste from unsold product. Corporate catering operates on a model that regularly generates wastage of 25-50 per cent due to client expectation of excess. Suitable strategies for waste avoidance and recovery in this sector include ongoing staff training (particularly due to high staff turnover), improved inventory control, reduction of unsold product waste and increased recovery, including by food rescue and recycling. Common drivers for businesses in establishing food waste collection systems include: • health and safety considerations as food waste is heavy, odorous and produces leachate that may leak. • saving space and/or reduced collection frequency for other wastes. Food waste is stored separately which enables other general waste to be collected less frequently. • business positioning as a leader in good environmental practices. Box 1 Food recovery options Food recovery options include: 1. redistribution of edible food including through ‘food rescue’ organisations which distribute food for people in need. 2. collection for off-site organics recovery. 3. on-site composting, worm farming, etc. 4. on-site technologies such as dehydration sterilisation which significantly reduces the volume of material and produces a sterile product, or vacuum pipes which suction waste directly into a tanker. 6 A study into C&I commercial and industrial (C&I) waste and recycling in Australia by industry division 3 A 2013 study into the C&I sector found that few businesses implemented food waste collection services in order to save money, although the fact that it often resulted in reduced waste charges assisted with smooth implementation. The study also noted that the implementation of food waste collection systems may often be driven by clients rather than being sold as a service by waste collection companies7. Greater supply of food waste collection services and increased demand would contribute to improved recovery through this mechanism. Smaller businesses may not generate
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