What are the alternatives?

Source separation is the most economical and environmentally responsible way to divert food waste.
Once separated, there are many options:

Charities

Value Adding

Animals

Soil Enhancer

Compost

Land Application

Dehydration

Anaerobic Digestion

Sewer

Which method is the best?

The best solution is based on type and volume of waste, location and other factors such as proximity to facilities which could utilise or recycle your waste. Just be aware of any hype a sales person for any technology – the most expensive or shiny is not always the best.

The waste hierarchy is pretty clear.

If still fit for human consumption – it should be – even if it needs to be value added. Precious resources have gone into producing this food to get it to this stage and it would be a waste to see it go to landfill.

The next best option is to go straight to animals if allowed. There are certain restrictions on the feeding of waste to some animals. We make sure we comply with these and also any local development codes.

The lower order priorities don’t give anything in return except greenhouse gases. they also require more fuel or energy to transport and further processing.