However, those who operate anaerobic digestion (AD) plants said it was unclear whether this was down to increased participation in recycling or whether people were wasting more.
Simon Musther, commercial director of the Bedfordshire-based AD and composting plant operator Biogen, said that the amount of food waste processed during the most recent festive period had gone up by 14% as compared to 2018/19. He said this was more than expected.
Mr Musther told letsrecycle.com: “Tonnages go up significantly over Christmas. We were full last year, and we were full this year.
“There are three possible explanations for this: either retailers are throwing more stuff away, or there is a gradual growth of recycling or people were more prepared this year.
“The honest answer is it is probably a combination of all three.”
Consensus
That the festive period had seen a spike in the collection of food waste was echoed by several within the industry.
“It’s hard to tell whether people are using their food waste caddies more,but we’re definitely capturing more food waste “
Pamela Lloyd, commercial director of Severn Trent Green Power, a waste management company which operates a network of AD and composting facilities across Derby, Birmingham, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey and South Wales, told letsrecycle.com: “We’ve definitely seen an increase. In past years we have seen as much as 50%.
“It’s hard to tell whether people are using their food waste caddies more over Christmas or whether we’re wasting more, but we’re definitely capturing more food waste.”
Parliamentary appeal
This festive spike is traditional, but with many reporting increased tonnages compared with last year, it would seem Christmas 2019/20 saw a greater increase than usual.
Last month, environment minister Rebecca Pow was one of many MPs who appealed to the public to do more to avoid unnecessary food waste.
She said: “Christmas is a time to enjoy indulging with the family, but that doesn’t have to come at the expense of our environment.
“Each year, UK households throw away enough gravy to accompany Christmas dinner for the whole country and last Christmas, we consumed enough card packaging to cover Big Ben nearly 260,000 times.
“Without the support of people across the country, we simply cannot achieve our goal of reducing unnecessary waste and leaving the environment in a better state for future generations.”
Household food waste
With mandatory food waste collections looming for local councils in England, the perceived spike in food waste recycled could be a sign that participation rates are rising.
Charlie Trousdell, chairman of trade association REA Organics, told letsrecycle.com: “As a general observation, per household food waste is reducing for households who are provided with food waste collections, whether this is weekly or fortnightly.
“The key point that most people forget is when you give householders the opportunity to recycle food waste, as soon as they start filling up kitchen caddies they realise how much money they’re throwing away so tend to improve their habits rapidly.
“Having said that, it is probably true that at times like Christmas and Easter food waste tends to increase for the average household, but I would say with all the messages about how to avoid food waste any increase is minimal.
“The final point is we are seeing a moderate increase in participation; even if in some cases there is minimal food waste in some householders’ bins, at least they are using them.”
Turkeys
One of the standout measures to try and reduce food waste saw food redistribution charity FareShare and poultry suppliers Gressingham Foods working together to ensure that 2,000 frozen turkeys that would have gone to waste went instead to vulnerable people.
Speaking in December, Gressingham managing director William Buchanan said: “No one should go hungry at Christmas, so we wanted to do something that would make a real difference to people over the festive season.
“Our partnership with FareShare will provide 20,000 servings of turkey, giving those in need the opportunity to enjoy a Christmas dinner at this special time of year.”
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