Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead has today welcomed the publication of a Zero waste Scotland reports that suggests that Scotland's hospitality sector could save an estimated £64 million a year by effectively managing food waste.
Date:
Thu, 07 Jul 2011
Source:
Scottish Government
Top findings of a report published today include:
- Scotland's hospitality sector send over 130,000 tonnes of waste to landfill. 77 per cent of this is recyclable materials in the form of food waste (41 per cent), glass (14 per cent), paper waste (13 per cent), and card (9 per cent)
- Food waste disposed of by the Scottish hospitality sector is estimated at 53,500 tonnes annually, two-thirds of which (35,800 tonnes) could have been eaten
- If the avoidable food waste was prevented and the unavoidable food waste recycled, Scotland could save 150,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions, the same as taking almost 50,000 cars off the road for one year
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
"Scotland's hospitality sector plays a huge role in our economy and is enjoyed by visitors and residents alike. It's staggering that an estimated £64 million could be saved by the Scottish hospitality sector each year through preventing food waste and increasing recycling. Harnessing the energy and resource potential of food waste - which can be made into clean energy and fertilizer - is a core aim of our zero waste agenda.
"The Scottish Government wants to drive behaviour change in all sectors to prevent waste arising in the first place and recycle what we can. In support of this, the Scottish Government has provided over £6 million to expand the network of anaerobic digestion facilities across Scotland, and is making a further £4 million available to support the collection of food waste."
See also our earlier news item
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