Food firms join waste watchers

The government has agreed to back a continuous improvement club to help chilled food manufacturers benefit from new research into the root causes of industrial waste.

The move follows a £53,000 study into waste generation by the Process Industries Centre for Manufacturing Excellence (PICME) at factories owned by members of the Chilled Food Association (CFA). The study highlighted opportunities to reduce waste at every stage in the manufacturing process, from raw materials handling through to demand forecasting.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which commissioned the research, said cash was now available to fund master classes run by PICME experts to help manufacturers that joined the new club to learn from the study.

Dr Christina Goodacre, who heads the food technology unit at DEFRA, said: "It's still being finalised, but there could be up to £90,000 available to subsidise low-cost workshops from PICME for club members. There would be a small financial and time commitment, but the benefits could be significant."

Although overproduction due to poor demand forecasting was a big contributor to the overall waste produced, large amounts were also generated through quality defects and machine malfunctions, said Goodacre.

"The master classes will drill down and dig deeper. Why does the food always drop off at that conveyor transport point? Is it poor design, the way it's operated, or something else?"

While an eleventh-hour change to the animal by-products regulation meant food waste from factories could still go to landfill, charges would rise dramatically in the next couple of years, she added. "PICME will also help club members find alternative outlets for waste so that everything doesn't just get put in the same dustbin and sent to landfill."

Many manufacturers had spent vast sums researching alternatives to landfill before the exemption was granted, said CFA secretary general Kaarin Goodburn. "However, all this work hasn't gone to waste," she said. "At some point we will reach the cross-over when greener alternatives are cheaper than throwing food waste away. These companies will have a head start."

Meanwhile, the confederation of food and drink sectors in the European Union (CIAA), the European Commission, and other organisations have agreed to develop a 'decision tool' to allow useful by-products to be distinguished from other waste that is subject to regulations and restrictions.

The move follows legal uncertainty over the definition of waste and cases in the European Court of Justice.

The CIAA has claimed that a waste designation could lead to supplies of some by-products drying up.

Food and drink manufacturing by-products include maize gluten, brewers' grains and whey, which are all typically used as animal feed and pet food, and wheat gluten and potato fibres, which are used as ingredients in other food products.

Companies interested in joining the waste reduction club should go to http://www.chilledfood.org​ or http://www.picme.org.uk​.