The Retailer Spring 2018

Focus on waste - retail’s role in a greener, more sustainable Britain

Daren King Sales Director – Industrial & Commercial Biffa

“Inedible food waste makes up 40% of the total food wastage in the UK.”

• How the sector can play its part in achieving aims set out in the Government’s 25-year Environment Plan • Lifting the lid on untapped potential for plastic recyclables and energy from waste Earlier this year, Prime Minister Theresa May set out her 25-year Environment Plan, which was headlined with a target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. Retailers and grocers were called upon to reduce plastic packaging and introduce ‘plastics-free aisles’ along with a series of other proposals designed to help preserve and improve the environment. But what is the role of the retail industry in achieving these Government targets? And are they even achievable? Such ambitions certainly grab headlines, but will this goal really help to alleviate the many million tonnes of waste generally which we need to manage in the UK - or do we need to look at the bigger picture? At this moment, the UK is not on track to meet its target of 50% recycling of household waste by 2020. In fact, rates have plateaued at around 43-45% since 2011, and with this year’s impacts from China’s bans and restrictions on imported recyclables, we now expect these rates to fall. The Government has proposed a number of potential measures to reduce plastics, including a tax or levy system to address single-use plastics; making packaging easier to recycle; and potential reforms of Producer Responsibility systems. This would bring England and Northern Ireland more in line with the approach in Scotland and Wales, where separate collection compliance responsibilities fall on the producer, rather than the collector of the waste. This means service providers like Biffa can then collect and sort the materials for stronger end markets. Innovations such as polymer recycling facilities help ensure plastic materials are diverted from landfill and upgraded. This means reprocessed plastics can be supplied to manufacturers, back into the loop. To date, our polymers facility, one of the most advanced in Europe, has reprocessed more than 3 billion plastic bottles – so the potential in this area is huge. Certainly the role of retailers is key in driving some of these initiatives, such as helping to push consumer demand for reduced plastics packaging. Many are already taking the opportunity to lead by example by ensuring their own brand products are made from sustainable materials with packaging using recycled (and recyclable) content. However, for such initiatives to deliver to INEDIBLE FOOD WASTE MAKES UP 40% OF THE TOTAL FOOD WASTAGE IN THE UK

These are just a handful of the issues mentioned in the government’s 25-year Environment Plan, but there is still a lot of detail needed in the more comprehensive resource and waste strategy being produced by DEFRA, which is set to be released later this year. At Biffa we have been closely involved in ongoing meetings with Government advisors about that and we now urge its accelerated publication, to help build on the current momentum and give further support and clarity to the sector. Retailers will undoubtedly be affected by this report, which will include a detailed analysis of the current waste landscape and outline legislative commitment to improvement, particularly in the post-Brexit era from March next year. We look forward to working with our retail partners to continue to help shape the UK waste agenda, to continue to innovate and maximise recycling in this sector, with a view to diverting more waste from landfill and striving for the vison of a circular economy.

their full long-term potential, this approach needs to extend throughout the retail supply chain. Indeed, any approach to reducing waste must be holistic – and also involve manufacturer and consumer groups. Meanwhile, it’s important to consider that retail waste isn’t just plastics. Inedible food waste is another untapped resource when it comes to diverting waste from landfill. Our recent ‘Food for Fuel’ campaign was launched following research revealing that inedible food waste makes up 40% of the UK’s total food wastage, yet one-third of food businesses admit to doing nothing to recycle it. There are many initiatives in place to re-use edible food, with supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Tesco donating this to local charities and community groups, but inedible food waste often falls off the radar. This is the kind of food which may be left over by diners in cafés and restaurants, or food past its sell-by date and no longer fit for human consumption. A lot of this kind of food waste is not disposed of effectively, resulting in a massive percentage of potential energy being thrown in the bin. However, a process called anaerobic digestion can convert inedible food waste into a form of green energy which can be exported to the National Grid. Surprisingly, there is currently no legislation in England and Wales that makes recycling food waste mandatory for businesses , meaning huge volumes of food waste are disposed of as general waste, some of which ends up in landfill. Meanwhile in Scotland and Northern Ireland, businesses are obliged by law to segregate and dispose of food waste responsibly when producing quantities above 5kg. Our campaign encourages businesses to pledge to segregate all quantities of inedible food waste, irrespective of weight, so this can be used to generate energy, rather than be sent to landfill. Surprisingly, our research found businesses often do not realise that general waste is more expensive to dispose of - and that separating food waste will help to lower the costs of waste disposal and save them money. The cost of food waste disposal can be as much as 70% cheaper than residual waste and so it makes economic sense to segregate food waste and arrange for it to be collected separately. A great example of this in practice is Sainsbury’s superstore at Cannock in Staffordshire, which is powered by its own food waste via a 1.5km cable connecting the store to our anaerobic digestion plant nearby.

DAREN KING // daren.king@biffa.co.uk // biffa.co.uk

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