How Does Food Waste Get Recycled?

What Actually is Food Waste?

Before we delve deeper into how food waste gets recycled, perhaps it’s worth sharing what it actually is. Food waste is food that gets thrown away instead of being consumed. Many causes of this problem occur throughout the food system, during processing, manufacturing, distribution, retail, and consumption. Staggeringly, around a third of the globe’s food goes to waste.

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Why Is It Vital To Recycle?

From looking at the facts and figures, a tremendous amount of food is sent to landfill sites where it decays, triggering the release of harmful greenhouse gases like methane which negatively affect our environment.

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Some councils in the community incinerate their non-recyclable waste to create valuable energy. Despite this, this type of waste is made up of a lot of water, meaning it needs considerable energy to burn. Thus, this is still a less efficient procedure of disposal than recycling.

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Increasing numbers of individuals are starting to recycle their wasted food – but think about how colossal this positive impact would be if we all avoided wasting our food…

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How Food Waste Is Recycled

Many authorities out there currently collect food waste in the community. It can be recycled in multiple ways – take a look below to find out more!

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In-vessel Composting

This method blends food waste with garden waste. The mixture gets shredded and composted in an enclosed container for up to a month. With temperatures reaching 70°C, these conditions speed up the composting procedure and ensure that harmful microbes cannot survive. The mixture is then left for 1-3 months, being turned and checked frequently before being utilized as a soil conditioner.

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Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic digestion involves the use of microorganisms that break down food waste in the absence of oxygen. Taking place in an enclosed system, the broken down mixture releases methane, which is then collected and transformed into biogas. This is used to create electricity, transport fuel, or heat. Additionally, it generates a nutrient-rich substance that can be utilized as a handy fertilizer for agricultural purposes.

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How is Food Waste Used?

Food waste that gets recycled also has many different uses. For example, as mentioned above, it can be turned into fertilizers for agriculture or even transformed into natural forms of energy, making it a fantastic alternative to fossil fuels.

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How To Recycle At Home

Now that you know more about recycling food waste and why it is so critical to our planet, perhaps you’d like to see how you can start doing it at home. If you are situated in a community with local food waste recycling collection services, you can use this to dispose of your waste. Additionally, you could compost anything you do not end up eating at home.

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A food waste caddy can assist you in separating your food waste for composting and recycling. Best placed in your kitchen, this can be emptied every few days.

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Your authority may suggest that you line the caddy with newspaper or a liner, although it’s essential to make sure that the liner you use can break down in the composting process.

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As a tip, keep any bins you have out of direct sunlight, leaving the lid closed when you can.

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Finally, only purchase what you need, ensuring you eat it all and avoid waste. If you want other ideas, online recipes and tips can help you decrease the amount of food you waste in the long run.

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Key Takeaways

• You can learn many things from this content, including the fact that food waste is still a colossal problem that needs to be tackled globally. Every household is guilty of throwing away unused, gone-off food – imagine what our environment would be like if everyone stopped wasting!
• Next, we can learn that taking a step to reduce food waste is actually relatively easy. By only buying what you need and approaching the waste you do create in the right way, the task of tackling the food waste problem is actually more possible than it first seems.
• Finally, it’s evident that you can make a difference to our planet. So, what are you waiting for? Start saving your food to save our world today.