What happens to my food waste?

Each year, we have around 4.5 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK and most of the food is still good-to-eat when it is discarded. The amount of edible food waste is good enough to even create an extra 10.5 billion meals! If we could reduce our own household food waste, it does not only save you money but also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Shorts Group Ltd is one of the leaders in Waste Management in the South, our vision is to create a more environmental and sustainable future by consistently pushing Reduce, Re-Use and Recycle.

Each month we collect food waste from over 100 sites including Pubs, Restaurants, Cafes, Hotels, Schools and Film Studios.

Over 50 tonnes of food waste is then taken to a sophisticated Anaerobic Digestion Facility to be recycled. During the process of Anaerobic Digestion, the food is broken down by micro-organisms to produce Methane which will then be turned into green energy and fertiliser. Our sister company Shorts Agricultural Services Ltd takes the fertiliser and spreads it back onto the farmers’ field. This is what we called ‘Closed-Loop Food Recycling’. It may sound complicated, but the process is actually very similar to the way in which a cow’s stomach works.

Our job is to deal with the technical side of things, but we would need everyone’s help to cut food waste in all parts of the food system.

Shorts Group Tel: 01344 620 316 Website: www.shorts-group.co.uk

5 TIPS TO HELP REDUCE FOOD WASTE:

1. Make a meal schedule Making a list of meal schedule for the week allows you to use up food ingredients efficiently and ensures that leftovers can be utilised in subsequent meals.

2. Freeze it Freezer can be a useful tool to help save your food. Don’t worry about losing the food texture when frozen – you can always try freezing them pureed or stewed.

3. Don’t judge by the look It is common to pick the most perfect fruit with no bruises or scratches and sometimes this leads to the ‘ugly’ ones being thrown away. Don’t be afraid to pick the ‘ugly duckling’, you maybe able to get the imperfect ones in reduced price. It can be a good way to reduce food waste and save money.

4. Compost your food waste Composting food waste is easy, and it is a perfect compliment to your organic vegetable garden. The best foods for compost are fruits and vegetables, coffee or eggshells. Dairy or meat however is best to avoid as they attract unwanted visitors – so pop these into your food waste bin!

5. Always shop with a list Don’t be easily tempted by offers or discounts. Only buy what you need. It can be the simplest and most effective way to reduce food waste and save money.

Making sure you know what food can be recycled can be the first step in reducing food waste. Let’s work together to save our food and our planet. If you find that your business is throwing away a lot of food waste, get in touch with us now and we can see if we can come up with a waste solution for you!