Olleco, Scotland’s used cooking oil collector, is urging businesses to act now to avoid falling foul of a criminal conviction and up to a £10,000 if they have ‘no reasonable excuse’ for not complying with the new Waste (Scotland) Regulations.
Opportunity for kitchen cost efficiencies
The firm, which specialises in collecting organics waste, believes that this change, which the industry views as disruptive, is actually an opportunity for kitchens to realise potentially huge cost savings, including reducing their waste collection charges by up to £500 alone.
The new Waste (Scotland) Regulations came into force earlier this month with very little fanfare and, if anecdotal evidence is to be believed, not many organisations affected have put the new practices in place.
Thousands of commercial kitchens across Scotland are now risking higher collection charges and penalties from their current dry waste supplier because of contaminated waste and also possibly hefty fines and convictions if prosecuted through SEPA. Yet, few are looking at how this change could become a unique opportunity to achieve cost efficiencies for their business.
Segregating food waste could offer significant savings
By law, all non-rural food businesses which produce over 50kg of food waste per week now have to segregate their food waste into separate bins to ensure it doesn’t end up in the general waste bin and ultimately into landfill. However, Olleco are keen to flag that this doesn’t mean that businesses will automatically be burdened with added cost. Indeed, they believe that it can even offer the opportunity to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill whilst earning businesses significant savings on uplift and landfill tax costs.
Vincent Igoe, Head of Olleco Scotland said:
“This change in legislation will have a huge impact on the thousands of catering businesses across Scotland. The new legislation offers the opportunity to look at how the business can reduce food waste and view it as a resource. I believe that this change will also contribute to Scotland’s growing green economy and potentially save money for the businesses affected.”
Rising landfill taxes
Scotland is currently paying £95million in landfill taxes. The cost of sending waste to landfill increases by £8 per tonne every year and will reach £80 per tonne by April 2014. At the same time Scotland is throwing away a valuable resource. As food waste degrades it produces methane, which has a high calorific value which stores the potential to generate power. It is this powerful resource that Olleco collect and recycle.
Scotland’s restaurants alone produce over 1 million tonnes of waste food which is currently going to landfill; it is estimated that if all eligible kitchens apply the new regulations, this number could be cut by 95%. Through increased recycling and better sustainability management, food waste is predicted to fall sharply in the next year – which offers cost savings for kitchens across the country.
Every kitchen could save money
Vincent Igoe adds:
“Although an initial investment in new facilities and uplifts is required by law, this will be off-set by the savings that can be achieved in the kitchen through waste management strategies.
“We estimate that every kitchen, by reducing the level of waste contaminated by food waste, could save money. If the average kitchen currently has a 1100 litre general waste bin collected five times a week, at a cost of £11.09 a time – they are currently paying out £55.45 a week. Plus they could now face higher charges from their waste collector and be liable for fines from SEPA for contaminating the dry waste with food.
“However, should that same kitchen segregate their waste e.g. three collections of a mixed recycling bin at £6.25 a lift, two uplifts of a 240 litre food waste bin at £8 a lift and only one uplift of a general waste bin at £11.25. This mix would see that same kitchen only paying out £46 a week on uplifts – saving almost £500 a year.”
Up to £10k in fines
Vincent warns:
“Costs can of course mount up quickly for those organisations that haven’t yet become compliant. SEPA has confirmed that, should they prosecute an individual or company, they will be able to claim up to £10,000 in fines, plus the organisation will also face additional penalties for contaminated bins and further fees for extra uplifts to collect their non-organic waste from their current dry waste contractor.”
Organic waste converted to energy
A local partner with a national reach, all of Olleco’s collection vehicles are built in Glasgow. As leaders in organic waste recycling, Olleco sees energy, where others see waste. Their core belief is that everything has value and nothing should be wasted. They realise the potential of organic waste by converting it into renewable energy. Everything that Olleco collect is recycled in some way; nothing goes to landfill.
Case Study
Olleco client, Lynnet Leisure Group, comprises six food businesses including, ‘The Grill Room at 29’ and ‘Rogano’. Producing hundreds of kilograms of food waste amongst them each week, the group uses eight 240 litre bins, collected three times a week.
David Friel, executive chef, has been using Olleco to supply fresh cooking oil and collect waste oil for more than 15 years and also uses their food waste collection service. He said:
“Changing our waste so that it is separated was a big change for the company; however, working with Olleco helped us all to get on board with the new format.
“With Olleco’s support, we were able to establish exactly how much food waste the business is producing and from where. This means, we have been able to review everything from preparation waste, stock control and portion sizes. As a result, we have been able to drive down the amount of general waste produced across the group, reducing this by more than 66% every day. This is something that we hope to build on going forward.”
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