Mapping waste in the food industry

New research jointly published by DEFRA and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), Mapping waste in the food industry, assesses the amount of waste produced in the food industry.

The research, which was carried out by Oakdene Hollins, assessed member sites of the FDF with Shropshire sites producing the greatest quantity of food waste in 2006 (100,780 tonnes), which accounted for over 15% of the UK total.

Shropshire also had the highest volume of waste sent to landfill in the region according to the report at 5,827 tonnes although Scotland and Lincolnshire were considerably larger at over 13,000 tonnes each.

79,470 tonnes of waste is sent for landspreading in the county, by far the highest amount of the areas measured in the survey.

Almost a third of waste from the industry in the West Midlands region goes to anaerobic digestion, with Staffordshire being the most significant contributor at 63,464 tonnes.

The report is available for download on the FDF website and is included in the Regional Resource Catalogue.