Wikiwaste

Organic Waste

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Organic Waste is generally reported to comprise Garden Waste and Food Waste and arisings total around 23,000,000 tonnes per year. It generally excludes Agricultural Waste (including manures and slurries which total around 90,000,000 tonnes per year) and Sewage Sludge (which totals around 2,000,000 tonnes per year)[1].

Picture of Green Waste source 123RF.com
Picture of Green Waste source 123RF.com
Picture of Food Waste source Mental Floss
Picture of Food Waste source Mental Floss


Overview

Organic waste is waste that is biodegradable, generally reported as Garden Waste and Food Waste. Whilst other wastes have an organic and/or biological content (such as Sewage Sludge and Agricultural Waste manures and slurries) they are separately reported.

Anaerobic Digestion and Composting (either Windrow Composting or In-vessel Composting) are the treatment methods for dealing with organic waste, and are key to diverting waste from landfill and producing renewable energy and sustainable fertilisers.

Macro Tonnage

The most recent information published by DEFRA [2] is based on 2016 data, with WRAP data for Food Waste from 2018[3] and organic waste generally from 2008[1]. The macro numbers under-report the total organic waste arisings in the UK as a whole as they exclude:

  • Organic Waste which is within general mixed waste (i.e. DEFRA only report segregated materials)
  • A large proportion of Agricultural Waste which is Food Waste (and hence Organic Waste) which is not reported (i.e. reject crops or crop wastage that is ploughed back into fields)
  • Other organic waste streams that are separately recorded (i.e. Sewage Sludge and Agricultural Waste manures and slurries)

WRAP Figures

WRAP in their organics report (dated 2008)[1] reported the following total arisings:

Organic Waste MSW Arisings (Tonnes) C&I Waste Arisings (Tonnes) Total Arisings (Tonnes)
Food Waste 6,100,000 5,700,000 11,800,00001
Garden Waste 6,400,000 4,200.000 10,600,000
Other 0 2,600,000 2,600,000
Total 12,500,0002 12,500,000 25,000,000
  1. the table is superseded by the figure below, showing the reviewed position of WRAP for Food Waste at 9,500,000 tonnes in 2018 (a reduction of around 2,300,000 tonnes) taking the total arisings to around 23,000,000 tonnes.
  2. within the report WRAP indicated that 3,612,000 tonnes of the total arisings shown was collected, the majority of which was Garden Waste. Food Waste collection has increased since that time to around treble that reported as collected (c. 780,000 tonnes) and an increase in composting at the home (c. 530,000 tonnes) results in WRAP now reporting 1,300,000 tonnes of collected Food Waste. With Garden Waste reasonably static this means the 3,612,000 tonnes has increased to around 4,600,000 tonnes.


As noted above, WRAP in their most recent report [3]identify around 9,500,000 tonnes of Food Waste, of which 6,600,000 tonnes was from household sources with the following graphic summarising their findings and further explained on the Food Waste page:

 
Source: WRAP Graphic - Key Facts Report Updated May 2019


DEFRA Figures

As set out above, the DEFRA macro numbers only report segregated organic waste and identifies three categories of wastes:

Reported by DEFRA as Generated in 2016 Tonnes
Animal & Mixed Food Waste 3,056,065
Vegetable Wastes 6,019,100
Animal Faeces, Urine & Manure 114,422
Total 9,189,587

The categories are split into six potential sources, as are all the DEFRA figures, summarised in the pie charts and data tables below:

Vegetable Wastes Animal & Mixed Food Waste
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Data Table Data Table
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (AFF) 11,129 Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (AFF) 31,846
Mining and Quarrying (MQ) 1,241 Mining and Quarrying (MQ) 416
Industrial (Ind) 1,333,996 Industrial (Ind) 1,657,269
Construction (Con) 7,341 Construction (Con) 93
Commercial (Com) 266,771 Commercial (Com) 805,211
Household (HH) 4,398,621 Household (HH) 561,230

From the information above, 4,959,851 tonnes is reported as household (54% of the total) and slightly more than the estimated figure of 4,600,000 tonnes above (mainly as a result of Garden Waste assumptions). The tonnage reported as C&I Waste of 4,063,247 tonnes (45% of the total) will be predominantly Food Waste, with only incidental other tonnage captured from other sources. This tonnage is higher than WRAP figures.

WasteDataFlow Figures

The tonnage reported through WasteDataFlow by the Waste Collection Authorities and Waste Disposal Authorities for England and Wales are set out in the sections below each Collection System Design for Garden Waste and Food Waste. The tonnage reported is for the 2017/18 financial year and is summarised as follows (and screens out those reporting below the de-minimus figures set out in each section for simplicity):

Collection Method Tonnes
Green garden Waste Only 286,161
Mixed garden and Food Waste 310,815
Other Compostable Waste 63,642
Waste food Only 157,30
Total 818,148

Green garden Waste Only

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 30,000 tonnes of Green Waste to a single waste operator as part of a Collection System Design that is termed Green Separate in the arrangements section of WikiWaste, and which can be on a variety of different frequencies and can be Green Charged or Green Not Charged:


Authority Stream Facility Operator Address Material Tonnes
Cheshire West and Chester Green waste Windrow or other composting George Whittaker And Sons ( Knutsford) Ltd Bypass Road, Hapsford, Cheshire Green garden waste only 30,518.36 {{{date}}}

Mixed garden and Food Waste

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 30,000 tonnes of Green Waste mixed with Food Waste to a single waste operator as part of a Collection System Design that is termed Green Comingled or Food Comingled in the arrangements section of WikiWaste.


Authority Stream Facility Operator Address Material Tonnes
Cheshire East Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting Biowise Limited Leighton Grange FARM, Middlewich Road, Leighton, Cheshire East, Mixed garden and food waste 53,228.92 {{{date}}}
East Riding of Yorkshire Council Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting Biowise Ltd Biowise Composting Facility, Albion Lane Site, Albion Lane, Willerby, East Yorkshire Mixed garden and food waste 41,452.23 {{{date}}}
Fife Mixed green and food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Not Available Not Available Mixed garden and food waste 38,664.18 {{{date}}}
Stockport MBC Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd Bredbury Park Way, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport Mixed garden and food waste 35,537.10 {{{date}}}
Shropshire Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting Agripost Ltd Lower House, Cardeston, Ford, Shrewsbury, Shropshire Mixed garden and food waste 32,617.08 {{{date}}}
Cambridge City and South Cambs Councils Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting Amey Cespa ( East ) Ltd Waterbeach Waste Management Park, Ely Road, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire Mixed garden and food waste 30,058.21 {{{date}}}

Other Compostable Waste

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 5,000 tonnes of this material to a single waste operator.


Authority Stream Facility Operator Address Material Tonnes
Fife Mixed green and food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Not Available Not Available Other compostable waste 38,664.18 {{{date}}}
Aberdeenshire Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting Not Available Not Available Other compostable waste 10,075.66 {{{date}}}
Stockport MBC Mixed green and food waste In vessel composting SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd Bredbury Park Way, Bredbury Park Industrial Estate, Bredbury, Stockport Other compostable waste 7,260.60 {{{date}}}

Waste food Only

Below is a list of local authorities that sends more than 10,000 tonnes of Food Waste to a single waste operator as part of a Collection System Design that is termed Food Separate in the arrangements section of WikiWaste.


Authority Stream Facility Operator Address Material Tonnes
Somerset Waste Partnership Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Cannington Enterprises Ltd Mobile Plant Waste food only 23,575.29 {{{date}}}
Cardiff County Council Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Other/Exempt WELSH WATERTremorfa Anaerobic Digestion FacilityTide Fields RoadTremorfaCardiffCF24 5SBPermit numberEPR/AB3093CA Waste food only 17,478.56 {{{date}}}
Bristol City Council Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Wessex Water Services Ltd Bristol Waste Water Treatment, Kings Weston Lane, Avon Waste food only 16,153.76 {{{date}}}
Dorset Council Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Eco Sustainable Solutions Ltd Bourne Park, Piddleshinton, Dorchester, Dorset Waste food only 15,686.27 {{{date}}}
City and County of Swansea Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Other/Exempt STORMY DOWNBRIDGEND Waste food only 14,695.17 {{{date}}}
Buckinghamshire Council Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Olleco Westcottt Biogas Generation Plant, , Westcott Venture Park, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Waste food only 13,730.53 {{{date}}}
Rhondda Cynon Taff CBC Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Other/Exempt Biogen AD Facility, Bryn Pica landfill Site, Merthyr Road, Llwydcoed, Aberdare, CF44 0BX. Waste food only 12,306.52 {{{date}}}
Edinburgh, City of Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Not Available Not Available Waste food only 10,594.83 {{{date}}}
Cheshire West and Chester Food waste Anaerobic or Aerobic Digestion Segregated Severn Trent Green Power Limited, Coleshill Food Waste Anaerobic Digestion Plant Coleshill Food Waste Anaerobic Digestion Plant, Coleshill Sewage Treatment Works, Marconi Way, Warwickshire Waste food only 10,578.66 {{{date}}}

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 WRAP Most Recent Organics Market Report
  2. ↑ UK Statistics on Waste 2020
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 WRAP Key Facts Jan. 2020
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