Summing up
Table 94 sums up how the UK waste sector contributes to make the relevant end-of-life option more or less
beneficial from an environmental point of view and how future trends could change the picture.
Table 94 Influence of the UK context on the various end-of-life options for biopolymer waste managementInfluence^ on^ the^ end‐of‐life^ options^
Elements of the UK context Recycling Incineration
Anaerobic
digestion
Composting Landfill1 Energy mix based on fossil fuels ↘ ↗ ↗ ↗
2 Few products on the market (^) ↘
3 No existing recycling infrastructures ↘
Sector‐
based
elements
4 No clear instruction for collection (^) ↘ ↘ ↘
5 Low carbon energy mix (^) ↗ ↘ ↘ ↘
6 Increased use of cogeneration (^) ↗ ↗
7 Improved recycling technology (^) ↗
Future
trends
8 Development of the biopolymer
market↗
↗ Could^ contribute^ to^ make^ the^ concerned^ end‐of‐life^ option^ more^ beneficial^ from^ an^ environmental^ point^ of^ view^
↘ Could contribute to make the concerned end‐of‐life option less beneficial from an environmental point of view
1 Currently, the UK energy mix is mainly based on fossil fuels. Therefore the energy savings brought by incineration, anaerobic
digestion or landfills make these options advantageous while on the contrary recycling is associated with energy consumption.
2 As few biopolymers are currently on the market, there is no real interest in developing specific biopolymer recycling channels.
3 The lack of recycling infrastructures for biopolymers does not allow to exploit the recycling potential of biopolymers to be
exploited.
4 As there is currently no clear instruction for collection of biopolymers, there is a risk that biopolymers are mixed with fossil-
based plastics
5 If in the future the energy produced no longer replaces fossil energy, the advantages would not be as high as today. On the
contrary, the energy used for recycling would generate fewer environmental impacts.
6 The increased use of cogeneration would optimise the energy efficiency of incinerators. and anaerobic digesters
7 Improved recycling technology could reduce the energy needs for the recycling process or minimise the part of the collected
waste that ends up as residual waste.
8 The development of the biopolymer market would be an incentive for the development of specific recycling channels for
biopolymers
4.5 Relevance of findings in the UK context for food and garden waste
In the UK, around 25 million tonnes of food and garden wastes are generated annually, around half of which
comes from the municipal waste stream. Food waste is a huge issue in the UK since approximately 8.3 million
tonnes of food and drink are thrown away, of which 60% could be avoided if better stored and managed (WRAP,
2009(d)).
An interesting point is also that there is a strong tradition for home composting in the UK since about one-third of
UK households with gardens compost at home. In addition, the number of local authorities operating kerbside
organic waste collection schemes is increasing rapidly (WRAP, 2009 (c)). The large majority of organic material
recovered is garden waste as illustrated in Figure 50. Over 50% of garden waste is now collected and this is not
expected to increase significantly. By contrast, food waste collections are likely to continue to increase in the next
few years. Today the preferred option for collected source-separated food and garden waste is composting and
there was a 20% average annual growth in the amount of organic waste composted between 2002 and 2007, as
shown in Figure 51. Investment in anaerobic digestion for treating food waste in particular has only a short
history in the UK and is also growing. This trend can be related to the Landfill Directive which requires organic
waste to be diverted from landfills (WRAP, 2009 (c)).