Page 6 - Tidy Planet - Environment Act 2021 Legislation Guide
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2) Food waste drying equipment
Drying equipment heats, agitates, and shreds food waste to convert it into a dried granular material. This can reduce the volume and weight of waste by up to 90%, meaning the same bottom-line saving advantages seen with dewatering are also applicable with food waste drying machines.
The drying process creates a dry, stabilised and odourless resource that is not only
easier and safer to store for long periods without putrefying, but it can also then be fed into an in-vessel composter. It can also accept compostable tableware – processing everything into a dry powder and leaving the plastics to be easily separated. As well as ensuring
compliance, the reduction in mass and volume massively decreases food waste collection fees – saving money, lowering carbon emissions, and forming a closed loop solution. The dried product can also be used as a valuable biomass fuel or composted.
Dried food waste
3) Food waste composting equipment
On-site commercial food waste composting is another way organisations can recycle their food waste, comply with the new law, and generate a valuable compost resource in the process! This works by placing the food and organic waste into the composter’s hopper, alongside a balanced addition of woody carbon. The machine’s internal blades mix and aerate the material inside an enclosed and warm environment, and this, coupled with controlled air flow, is a perfect place for healthy composting to thrive.
The subsequent nutritious material can be used on site in gardens, orchards, and
cultivation plots to grow fresh produce – creating a closed loop waste management model with the elimination of collection costs and associated carbon emmisions. Furthermore, sites can also increase their overall capacity and throughput by first processing the food waste via dewatering or drying equipment.
Gobi dryer
Rocket composter
Composed food waste
What solutions are available to help me comply?