Food Waste Collections for Plymouth
Preventing Food Waste in Plymouth
Transition Plymouth
Waste Matters Group
August 2014
An Executive Summary of the proposal to seek WRAP funding
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Executive Summary
The subject of food waste is currently receiving a great
deal of publicity; prompted, perhaps, by a rise in the
number of families currently experiencing food poverty
but, equally, by concerns about the rising costs of landfill,
the potential identified for alternative solutions to food
waste disposal and the pressures on local authorities to
provide or support cost effective services.
The topic is complex – with avoidable and unavoidable
food waste contributing in almost equal parts – but the
recently created Transition Plymouth Waste Matters
Group believes there are solutions to this and have been
working towards a three stage project to tackle this in
partnership with some of Plymouth’s leading food and social inclusion specialists.
Stage 1 is a prevention project and is supported by a bid to WRAP for funding to take the group
to December 2015. This will raise awareness, promote the issue of food waste, prepare
Plymouth’s households for the introduction of a domestic food waste collection and provide the
evidence required to complete a Feasibility Study for Stage 2.
Stage 2 will follow with a pilot project developed with an identified local community and,
potentially, hosted by either Plymouth Community Homes’ households or by the households
supported by Plymouth University. This in turn, will inform Stage 3.
Stage 3 will review the potential for the roll out of a citywide domestic food waste collection
designed to meet new food waste recycling obligations and both local and national targets.
Plymouth already benefits from a number of food related community projects – from the Devon
& Cornwall Food Association who redistribute in-date food that would otherwise go to landfill to
the opportunity to create energy and bio-compost at the Langage Farm Anaerobic Digester.
Commercial collections have been introduced and are already being supported by local firms,
including Alpha Logic and Devon Contract Waste, but the potential for household food waste
collection is still under consideration. A process that has been introduced and is functioning well
in other local authority areas, domestic food waste collection may have its limitations but,
equally, there are opportunities in Plymouth that can be cost effectively applied to provide a
solution to a growing problem.
A formal partnership has now been agreed in readiness for the bid to WRAP and the bid,
outlining the details for Stage 1 of the project (see above) is ready to be submitted by the
deadline of Monday 1st September 2014. The support of the City Council in pursuing the delivery
of this project, if the bid is successful, is now sought.
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Preventing Food Waste in Plymouth
TRANSITION PLYMOUTH WASTE GROUP
OUR PARTNERSHIP
Confirmed Partners:
Plymouth City Council
Transition Plymouth
Devon & Cornwall Food Association
Urban Agenda SW
Growing Sustainable Futures
Devon Contract Waste
Plymouth Social Enterprise Network
Food Plymouth
Plymouth University Centre for Sustainable Futures
Supporting Organisations:
Alpha Logic
Plymouth Octopus Project
Langage AD Plant
Agreement Pending:
Plymouth Community Homes
Plymouth University (via Commercial Services)
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Background
Transition Plymouth has been holding regular meetings over a long period of time to
discuss the issue of the lack of domestic food waste collections in Plymouth, despite this
being the norm across much of Devon for around 10 years. The Food Waste Partnership
has developed from these meetings and has suggested that a community based,
awareness raising project to prevent food waste from entering the waste stream could
meet a number of locally agreed aims for the community.
The Group is aware that MSW (including domestic food waste) currently goes to landfill
but it will go to the new ‘incinerator’ (waste to energy plant) as part of general domestic
waste when it comes online.
Commercially, a large amount of contract food
waste is collected by Alpha Logic and Devon
Contract Waste to be processed by Langage
Anaerobic Digester in a ‘closed loop’, sustainable
waste management system that creates energy
and a reusable fertilizer.
The complexities of meeting contractual
agreements, financial commitments, new waste
obligations, community awareness and the
practicalities of collecting and transporting food waste have now been extensively
discussed and a series of aims have been included in the proposed bid to WRAP which
initially focuses on prevention and then applies the waste hierarchy to food waste
disposal. (See above).
Perceived blocks to domestic food waste collections have also been discussed but
further evidence of suitability is required so the first stage of the three-part project will
include a Feasibility Study that will review the socio-economic costs as well as the
practicalities of collection.
Perceived opportunities, including promotional ventures and the options for social or
community enterprises, have also been reviewed and will also be informed by the
Feasibility Study.
Stage 1 will identify a series of new volunteering opportunities, the potential for new
skills, new jobs and employment and a range of support for the alleviation of food
poverty in Plymouth’s most vulnerable families through agreement with the Council’s
Social Inclusion Unit (Darin Halifax).
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Examples of good practice already in place
The project will aim to identify best practice in both local and national options and will also
result in the opportunity for published case studies and site visits. The project aims to establish
Plymouth as a leader in this field. It will therefore draw on the expertise and experience of
Partnership members who include specialists in waste management, sustainability, sustainable
education, community development and social enterprise.
Summary of Discussion
The group concluded that a domestic food waste collection, subject to further
investigation, is potentially:
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scientifically feasible;
logistically possible;
desired by the community;
beneficial for the city as a whole.
There is a great deal of enthusiasm for improved food waste management across the
city. Plymouth City Council has expressed its support for the initiative, to include input
of resource and expertise into the Feasibility Study. The Project Team is confident that
this will feed into the achievement of the Council’s aims and targets, as well as reflect
the wishes of the community as a whole.