Towards a fresh perspective on Food Waste Disposers: can they play a future role in solid waste management and energy recovery?
Groom, E., and Prunty, C., QUESTOR Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
(free)
The use of Food Waste Disposers (FWDs) as an alternative to source separated collection has been examined in a number of recent studies and there is understandable concern from the sewerage industry regarding negative impacts on sewers. Despite this there are a number of opportunities for positive benefits in the use of FWDs to improve energy recovery from wasted food, these include: locations where large amounts of food waste are available e.g. canteens at industrial parks; geographical areas in which conventional municipal waste collection by truck is difficult e.g. steep mountainous terrain, districts with narrow streets; regions where hot weather causes rapid generation of odours or pest problems from food waste decomposition.
The Re-WISE project promotes sustainable energy communities (SECs), in which the measured use of FWDs is encouraged and can be inherently beneficial. A risk-based analysis was used in evaluating opportunities for exploiting FWDs as an alternative to source separated food waste collection. This study has identified scenarios where the benefits of FWDs usage through the implementation of an SEC model outweigh the risks.
