Doing more for you
Home | About TOR2 | Clients | Job vacancies | Media centre | Contact us
Text zoom: A | A | A
Recycling & wasteContact us

Why recycle food waste?


Recycling food waste is as important as recycling other household rubbish such as glass, cans and paper. When organic waste is deposited in landfill it biodegrades and has serious environmental consequences. For example:

• Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere, which significantly contributes to global warming
• A liquid leachate is also produced that can pollute groundwater and water courses, damaging the plants and animals that live there

Disposing of waste via landfill is unsustainable and space is running out. In addition, for biodegradable waste, fines have been implemented through the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) and a fine is imposed for every tonne of biodegradable waste sent to landfill in excess of a Local Authority's allocated allowance. If Torbay does not change the way waste is managed in the Bay, it faces fines of around £27 million by the year 2020 (as stated in the Municipal Waste management Strategy for Torbay - 2008 – 2025).

By separating your food waste and not putting it in your normal rubbish sacks, you will reduce the amount going to landfill.

It could also save you money…

The government-funded organisation, Waste and Resources Programme (WRAP) has found that we throw away 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink every year in the UK, the majority of which could have been eaten. WRAP also states that if households stopped wasting the food that could have been eaten they could save up to £50 a month and if everyone in the UK did it, it would have the carbon impact of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road.

May Gurney (one of the joint venture companies of TOR2) has found that by simply implementing a food waste collection scheme like the one in Torbay it can actually help residents realise the amount of food they are wasting and as a consequence change their behaviour to waste less. This can result in a saving to households of at least £100 a year!