RECYCLING
The power of scraps
HEAT AND
ELECTRICITY
BIOGAS
FOOD WASTE
ANAEROBIC
DIGESTION
SOIL FERTILISER
More people are
recycling food waste
than ever before because
they know it makes a
big difference to the
environment – and
can create power
for homes.
H
owever,
some
people do
not realise
that wasted food has
a big impact on climate
change. Most of it ends
up in landfill, where it creates
some of the most harmful and
polluting greenhouse gases as it rots.
Councillor Mik Sabiers, the council’s
cabinet member for environment and
18
around ealing Summer 2019
highways, said: “One of the simplest
ways each of us can make a difference
to the planet is to simply stop throwing
food waste in the rubbish bin.
“You just need to recycle it instead
of dumping it and it can become an
amazing force for good instead.
“All of the food waste that Ealing
Council collects is taken to a
special processing plant
in England – where
it gets converted
into electricity for
use in homes,
and also fertiliser
for farms.”
You put out
7,045 tonnes
of food waste
to be collected in
2018/19.
Most households in the
borough can use the council’s weekly
food waste collection. It is easy. All
you have to do is place your leftovers,
Ask for a
te bin at
food was
k/
ng.gov.u
w w w.eali
g
recyclin
scrapings, tea bags,
peelings and out-of-
date food in your green food waste
bin – and, of course, put the bin out on
your collection day each week. Simple.
And to make it even more convenient,
you can use a smaller ‘caddy’ bin in
the kitchen to collect the leftovers and
then, when it is full, carry it out to place
it in the outside food waste bin.
WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS
After the food waste is collected and
taken to the processing plant, it is
placed in a giant, sealed, air-tight tank
to break down in a controlled way.
This produces gas which is siphoned
off and used to make electricity that
gets pushed into the national grid to
heat and light homes. What is left is
pasteurised to kill any bugs then used
as agricultural fertiliser to improve soil.
None of it goes to waste. Leftover
food is perhaps more powerful than
you thought?