Waste Not Watt Not

Fertile future for Ealing's food waste

Ealing has become the first London borough to turn all its food waste into organic fertiliser and generate renewable energy.

Ealing Council is now sending hundreds of tonnes of leftovers every month to the Biogen anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Bedfordshire, following a successful trial. AD is a way of recycling food waste into green energy and organic fertiliser. This reduces the amount of food waste that would otherwise end up in landfill sites and produce harmful greenhouse gases.

Keith Townsend, Ealing Council’s Executive Director of Environment and Customer Services, said: “We have signed up to this scheme as part of our commitment to being environmentally friendly, and tackling climate change. Recycling rates have soared across the borough over recent months and it’s a great achievement for Ealing to be the first Council to be recycling all of its food waste in the most environmentally efficient way possible.”

The Council has been collecting residents’ food leftovers since 2006 as part of the weekly recycling collection. In 2007 it began a six-month trial in partnership with waste management company Cawleys and BIOGEN. Cawleys handle the bulk collection of Ealing’s waste and deliver it to BIOGEN’s Bedfordshire based AD plant.

April 16, 2008