Partnership seeks to provide greater food waste recycling coverage to Scotland

A new partnership has been established to provide an integrated food waste collection and treatment service in Scotland.

The organisation, named Food Waste Scotland, is the result of a collaboration between waste management firm Binn Group and food waste reprocessor Earnside Energy.

Based at the Binn EcoPark in Glenfarg, near Perth, the partnership hopes to collect and recycle up to 30,000 tonnes of food waste each year, while, it says, generating around 18 million kilowatt hours of electricity for the national grid.

Both companies have made investments in the build up to the launch of the collaboration, with Binn Group investing in a new fleet of food waste collection vehicles fitted with onboard weighing capability last year, while Earnside has also recently doubled the capacity at its anaerobic digestion (AD) facility.

The Scottish Government has, since 2016, required all businesses generating more than five kilogrammes of food to ensure that it is collected separately and in its 2016 circular economy strategy, ‘Making Things Last’, established a goal to cut food waste in Scotland by a third by 2025.

That target, said former Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead ‘will put Scotland at the forefront of global action to tackle food waste’, but Binns Group Chief Executive Allan MacGregor says that while government direction is good, the amount of food currently being wasted in Scotland is “staggering”.

Even if the government achieves its figures, the partnership says, an estimated one million tonnes of Scottish food waste would still require proper collection and treatment.

“Segregating food waste makes people conscious of the amount they produce and encourages them to try and reduce that amount,” said MacGregor. “Food Waste Scotland is leading the call to encourage everyone in Scotland to play their part.

“While the focus is on reducing the volume generated by homes and businesses, there are opportunities to work with existing and future clients to identify food waste issues and offer a more environmentally sustainable and cost effective solution.”

Mick Fishwick, Director at Earnside Energy, added: “We… have invested significantly to increase capacity to be able to offer a much-needed service in Scotland. Having worked successfully for many years with Binn Group, we are excited to launch this new venture together.”

More information about the new partnership can be found on the Food Waste Scotland website.