Tim O’Malley explains why incoming regulations on household food waste collections will push up the cost of using AD plants, further strengthening the case for diverting surplus produce to organisations like FareShare
I visited one of the largest anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in the UK recently, called BioteCH4, to see Duncan Jones, who is the commercial lead for the business. They have five sites around the country and take in approximately two-thirds of all food waste from UK food manufacturers. Overall, they process 600,000 tonnes of food a year. It’s a big business, and we had an interesting chat.
You may or may not know this, but from 31 March 2026, the government will require all English local authorities to provide weekly food waste collections from all households. Scotland and Wales are already recycling most of their household food waste.
The new rules will require each household to have a small seven-litre waste food caddy inside the house and a 24-litre one outside. Wales and Scotland’s combined population is 8.7 million. England’s is 57mn. Do the maths. This is a huge shot in the arm for the AD industry.
Duncan estimates this will generate around half a million tonnes of extra food waste for his industry each year. It’s about 1.2kg per household, per week. So, Councils have been running around trying to tie up contracts with the AD companies. And the contracts they’re offering are very desirable, long-term deals of five years plus for regular tonnage, which is quite high in calories with very little packaging.
AD is all about calories – the higher, the better. For example, Duncan tells me it takes about one tonne of sausage rolls to produce roughly the same amount of gas as five tonnes of fresh produce. So, laudable though the government’s aim might be, the unintended consequence of this is that fresh produce will inevitably incur higher gate fees at AD plants.
Duncan tells me he’s currently charging low double-figure £/tonne for fresh produce, but simple supply and demand could easily push this into triple figures. If you use an AD company to process your food waste, I would strongly advise you to speak to them… now. Don’t wait for them to slap you with higher gate fees in a few months’ time. Start the negotiations now.
That said, do not despair, all is not lost! There is a someone out there, a charity in fact, that will collect your waste or surplus produce from your door. FareShare. Full disclosure! I’m a Trustee of FareShare. However, Nationwide have been a supplier to FareShare long before they approached me to join the board.
Before we supplied FareShare, we took the lazy route of throwing all our rejected/surplus produce in a corner and shovelling it up every so often to be carted off to AD. With a bit of TLC this waste produce can be turned into a healthy, nutritious meal for those most in need in our society. It just requires a bit of training for your staff, which FareShare are happy to provide on-site. The food has got to be fit for human consumption, obviously, so it’s just about not letting your rejected/surplus produce sit in a corner and rot.
FareShare has 35 sites around the country supplying around 8,000 charities, and sadly, we have hundreds on the waiting list. Fresh produce accounts for about half the food we intake.
FareShare supplies essential food ingredients to school breakfast clubs, older people’s lunch clubs, homeless shelters etc. And for your trouble, you will receive regular cuddly ‘Impact reports’ to show how many meals your food has provided, how many charities you’ve helped, how much CO2 and water you’ve saved etc. All good stuff for your ESG targets, website and social media. It’s a win-win. Believe me, we’ve been doing it for years.
If you’re interested, feel free to email us at FareShare@nationwideproduce.com, and we’ll make sure your enquiry gets through to the right people at FareShare.
