Our guide to food waste disposal bags

Why is food waste disposal important?

The UK produces an estimated 10 - 14 million tonnes of food waste each year, according to the European Commission, as stated by a study carried out by BIFFA in 2019. The results of this study showed that the UK was the highest contributor to food waste in Europe. When this waste was analysed, they found that 70% of the discarded food was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the ‘inedible parts’ e.g. peelings, egg shells).

This had a value of over £19 billion a year and would be associated with 36 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (as stated by WRAP). Food waste is produced in many areas, including hospitality, retail premises and manufacturing but it is households that contribute to the majority of this waste, with 7.1 million tonnes thrown away each year, which is equivalent to 156kg per person.

New Government legislation

As of December 2021, less than half of UK Local Authorities offer household food waste collections. For those who do not have such services, residents will more often than not place their food waste into the general waste bin, which is sent to landfill. Approx. 115 Local Authorities offer a kerbside food waste collection service, this type of waste is collected in food caddies or composters, which are typically kept in the kitchen of the household. As well as household collections, many local authorities offered the same services to businesses, in a similar format. After successful trials of food waste collections, and more Local Authorities, and residents alike wishing to benefit from such collections.

The UK Government are now implementing mandatory kerbside food waste collections, across England. These new collections are being brought in through a wider effort to make all household and business recycling collections consistent across the UK. The proposals were for all Local Authorities to collect the same core set of dry recyclable materials from households and have separate weekly food waste collections from households, including flats.

How is food waste disposed of?

Food waste is inevitable, however, it is how this waste is handled which determines the impacts it has on our planet. Good waste management and recycling methods are helping to support a cleaner, greener planet and a more circular economy – preventing unnecessary items being sent to landfill where they struggle to decay. Almost all food waste is recyclable. Compostable liners are the preferred and recommended choice for the capture and containment of food waste. As household food waste collections become mandatory, compostable liners present the ideal solution to line household food caddies and collect this waste.

Why should food waste be collected in compostable bags?

As food waste becomes a more recognised issue, many Local Authorities have begun offering kerbside food waste collections. Providing households with a food caddy to capture and contain their food waste, but which bag is best to line these new caddies? Recent studies show compostable liners come out on top as the best product to capture food waste and recycling.

Overall, the evidence found that compostable liners have an effective balance of reasonable costs, minimisation of plastic contaminants in the biodegradable waste stream, high participation rates and reduced instances of non-compostable contamination in the food waste collected and processed. The product that out shone all the others in every aspect was the compostable liner. A cost-effective option, which saw a great result in both the quality of waste & minimal instances of contamination and reduced GHG emissions.

The compostable liner came out on top as the best product to capture food waste and recycling - increasing participation rates and recycling contribution. As a result, we advocate the use of compostable liners over PE liners for food waste collection, where treatment is either composting or Anaerobic Digestion.

To find out more about compostable liners, and how to prepare for the new Government food waste legislation, explore our framework here.