Press release - 26 Apr 2010

SITA UK launches commercial food waste recycling service in London

Recycling and resource management company, SITA UK, has launched a food waste recycling service for businesses in Central and South London.

The company has developed a special collection vehicle, which has been adapted to collect both glass and food waste in separate compartments.  Businesses that produce a lot of food waste also produce a lot of glass, which is why the two services are being offered together.

Commenting on the introduction of the service, Graham Mayes, Chief Operating Officer at SITA UK said:  “The Mayor’s draft strategy supports increasing food waste collections in London, so we are pleased to be responding to this need for businesses.

“Once we have established the service in Central and South London, we intend to expand to provide food waste recycling for businesses right across the capital.

“We have already spoken to a range of companies in South London and many are keen to improve their environmental practices.  They see food waste recycling as a good way to cut their carbon emissions.”

The separation of food waste from the remainder of the waste stream is made easy and hygienic for customers with kitchen caddies lined with bio-degradable sacks known as biobags. Once a caddy is full, the biobag is fastened and put into a larger container, which is collected at least once a week.

Graham Mayes added: “We have selected this system because it is clean and easy to use.  We have also produced striking and positive imagery for our food waste recycling service, which we hope will inspire companies to join up.

“Educating businesses about how to recycle food waste and the benefits, is an important aspect of our service. We intend to provide information sessions to every customer that signs up.  We also think it is important to encourage customers by providing them with information about the carbon savings they are making. This should help to keep up momentum and help avoid contamination in the food waste containers.

“Research from London Remade Solutions (LRS), who we have worked closely with throughout the development of this project, shows that businesses may be surprised how much food waste they produce.  In the first wave we will target companies that we know produce lots of food waste, such as restaurants and bars.”

Every kilogramme of recycled food waste saves 450 g of CO2.  SITA UK hopes to recycle up to two thousand tonnes of food waste during the first wave of this new service.