FDBusiness.com

Food waste is an issue that affects everyone, whether at home or at work. It is also a particular concern for businesses in the Irish hospitality and food service sector. According to GHP.ie who have been working with the Irish Hotel Sector on sustainability and resource efficiency for the past 15 years, “the average quantity of food waste thrown out is 50 tonnes per hotel, with an upper level in excess of 150 tonnes – annually.

“With c. 800 hotels in Ireland that means the hotel sector throws away c.28.000 tonnes, an estimated €150 Million euro. This means that for a percentage of their products, Irish hospitality and food service companies are losing not only the purchase cost of food, but are also unable to recover the add-on operational costs associated with labour, water, energy and waste disposal.”

Food waste can have a detrimental impact on the environment too. If sent to landfill, decomposing food gives off methane, a greenhouse gas at least twenty times more potent than CO2. If unavoidable food waste is collected separately and sent for appropriate treatment it can be turned into valuable end products such as compost, fertiliser and renewable energy.

Environmental improvement is an increasingly important factor for businesses to stay competitive and manage their supply chain risks. Increasing resource scarcity; rising raw material, transport and utility costs; and pressure from legislation, customers and society to reduce environmental damage are combining to drive businesses to improve their performance and become more sustainable.

ACS Environmental, in cooperation with Kingspan have launched a new environmentally friendly food digester to the Irish market this week. The Waste 2O Food digester was originally developed in the UK before being made available to the Irish market.

In today´s food industry the disposal of waste food is a key issue and a major expense. ACS Environmental´s Waste 2O food waste bio-digester rapidly digests up to 180 Kg of soft, organic food waste in 24-hours, and the resulting waste water safely runs away to your water drain – simply throw in the food and walk away. The process is called aerobic digestion, and a naturally occurring blend of microorganisms help with this process.

“The microorganisms are perfectly safe, naturally-occurring and non-pathogenic, i.e. they do not cause disease. They are regarded as safe worldwide and classified under Hazard Group 1. There are also no harmful effects to local drains or sewage systems. In effect the formulation boosts the population of beneficial bacteria in the system, and there would actually be beneficial effects further downstream.” Dr. John Lear (PhD, Microbiology)

Aerobic microbial activity converts all soft food waste into waste water that is safely sent straight to the drain, using existing services – saving you the hassle of dealing with solid food waste.

“This also helps by removing fat and food build-up in the drains, preventing blockages. The food is disposed of into a machine where it is mixed with a small amount of bi-enzymes. These eat away the food much like the contents of a human stomach, turning it into water,” explains Aaron Carpenter, Director of ACS Environmental.

“Taking out the food contents from the rubbish bins, means that the rest of the waste can go to a recycling plant, where it can be sorted and not go to landfill.”

There is also no need to store food waste anymore. Plus it reduces odour and vermin problems. It’s totally compliant with all relevant waste management legislation including the EU Waste Framework Directive 2012 and Food Waste Regulations 2013.

Removing food contents from the rubbish bins means that the rest of the waste can go to a recycling plant, where it can be sorted. Waste 2O reclaims the water inherent to food waste (approximately 70% of food waste is water), safely returning it to water treatment plants – meaning water is not lost to landfill or incineration. The optional Volume Sensor gives operations an effective management tool to track and monitor food usage to prevent and reduce food waste.

“It is an exciting new product especially for hospitality and food industries guaranteeing a great reduction of waste collection fees.”

The Waste 2O Food Digester is available from ACS Environmental, who is based in Rathcoole, Co. Dublin. Visit www.acsenvironmental.ie.