Recycle food waste
Introduction
The best thing that can happen to food is to reach our dishes and enjoy. Avoid throwing food that could have eaten will allow you to save money and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, some food waste is inevitable: egg shells, banana peels and tea bags will never be in the menu. Domestic composting is an excellent way to prevent this type of waste from ending in landfills, and our gardens will really thank us.
If you live in an area that has a local food waste recycling collection service, you can use it to get rid of anything that you cannot eat or make fertilizer at home. It can be recycled in a soil improper or good quality fertilizer and even generate electricity that can be feedback to the national network. You can check if your local authority offers a food waste collection service in our recycling locator.
Developing
Every year, the homes of the United Kingdom throw around 7 million tons of food, and most could have eaten. Gradually all this waste accumulates, for a year, the average family throws around £ 700 in food purchases, which is equivalent to an annual invoice of public services. Some of the waste is made up of things such as shells, nuclei and bones, but most are, or once it was, perfectly good food.
Most ends in landfills where Metano is rotted and released, a harmful greenhouse gas. Throwing food is also a great waste of energy, water and containers used in its production, transport and storage. If we all stop wasting the food that could have been consumed, it would have the same impact of CO 2 as to get 1 out of every 4 cars from the United Kingdom roads. Many municipalities now collect food waste, which can be recycled in several ways, including:
Container composting involves mixing food waste with garden waste, crushing them and then composing them into a closed system for approximately 2-4 weeks (temperatures up to 70 ° C accelerate the process and ensure the elimination of harmful microbes). Then, the material is left abroad to mature for 1 to 3 more months with turns and regular controls to guarantee quality before as a conditioner.
Anaerobic digestion uses microorganisms to break down food waste, animal manure, slurry and energy crops in the absence of oxygen, within a closed system. As it decomposes, emits methane, which is collected and becomes biogas and is used to generate electricity, heat or transport fuels. It also creates a nutrient rich digestive that can be used as a fertilizer for agriculture and in land regeneration.
Environmental impact
Reducing food waste is an important problem and it is not just about wasting good food;Food waste costs the average family with children almost 60 per month and also has serious environmental implications. The amount of food we throw is a waste of resources. It is enough to think about all the energy, water and containers that are used in food production, transport and storage. All this is wasted when we throw perfectly good food.
Cheese is a good example: feed and milked cows, cool and transport milk, process it in cheese, pack it, take it to stores, keep it at the right temperature all the time. If then it is discarded, it is most likely to end in a landfill, where, instead of decomposing harmlessly as many people think, rot and release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
conclusion
Do not forget to make the most of your food and drink and try to avoid food waste in the first place. To obtain simple ideas, recipes and advice, visit Love Food Hate Waste. You can also try to pay at home. A food waste cart in your kitchen can help you separate food waste to recycle and turn them into fertilizer. This can be emptied in the fertilizer container or in the food waste container of the council every two days.
It is possible that your advice recommends that you fight your food waste cart with a newspaper. Use only coatings recommended by your Council, since it is possible that some do not break in the composting process. Whenever possible, keep your containers away from direct sunlight and keep the lid of the closed container.
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