The report on the two-year trial was published this week following its completion in June. As well as providing data on how the food waste was collected, it also highlights a number of hitches with the composting facility and makes a number of suggestions to other local authorities.
One of the most crucial recommendations is that councils should use a facility accredited under the Animal By-Products Regulations.
The Kitchen Waste Composting Trial report, issued by Lancashire county council on behalf of the project's partnership, said: “Although the gate fee seems high, it would save the costs and limit the risk associated with running the plant yourself.”
Technicalities
The partnership initially began processing food waste in a Vertical Composting Unit at its Ingol Household Waste Recycling Centre. The composter was a nine metre-high fully enclosed chamber, which aerated the material inside and reduced water content.
The material – a mix of food waste and a bulking agent – spent between three and nine days in the unit including two days where it had to be maintained at 60 degrees to kill of pathogens, as set down in the Animal By-Products Regulations.
The compost, which was to be used by Preston city council's parks department for flowerbeds, should have been accredited under the Regulations within three months of starting the project.
However, due to problems with maintaining the temperature – described as a “major stumbling block” – it took 14 months before the accreditation process could begin, meaning food waste had to be sent to landfill.
Had it been known how long it would take to get accreditation the project may have considered other options
Lancashire food waste report
One problem was that the material at the core of the composter was not heating up to the required temperature. The material was also found to be heavily compacted preventing airflow.
The report stated: “Had it been known how long it would take to get accreditation the project may have considered other options.”
Vertical Composting Unit Europa, which supplied the composter, eventually sorted the problem and by December 2006, accreditation was close after a State Veterinary Service inspection approved the heating process.
However, disaster struck when it was discovered that waste fluid from the site was flowing into the surface water drain rather than the foul drainage system.
It would have cost £10,000 to rectify the problem so the partnership decided it had no choice but to seek an alternative site. It signed an agreement with Preston-based TEG Environmental, which processes food waste into material suitable for the agricultural and horticultural industries.
The composting unit will now used by Groundwork East Lancashire to process green waste collected in Burnley.
The report stated: “Despite mixed feelings about shutting the plant so close to achieving accreditation the partnership accepted that this part of the trial had come to an end but
valuable lessons had been learnt.”
Liners
Other suggestions arising from the report include requiring residents to pay for the caddy liners. The partnership spent around £63,000 on liner bags during the trial out of a total expenditure of £472,000.
Collections
The scheme, which began in May 2005, ran alongside fortnightly bin collections and had an average 40% participation rate among householders.
Each home was given a seven litre kitchen caddy with compostable liners made from cornstarch, and a larger 25 litre bin, which was kept outside and used to store the caddy bags full of food.
The trial found that an average 3kg of food waste was produced by householders each week. This was higher in more ethnically diverse households which tended to prepare more fresh ingredients and although households using pre-packaged food generated less food waste, they appeared to produce more packaging waste.
The food waste collections are to continue in the pilot area and there are plans to extend it to other parts of the county.
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