Real solutions for food industry waste

Food and Drink companies are invited to attend a free Food Industry Waste Club seminar that will address a wide range of issues relating to the reduction, disposal and treatment of food and meat waste

Food and Drink companies in Yorkshire and Humberside are being invited to attend a free "Food Industry Waste Club" seminar that will address a wide range of issues relating to the reduction, disposal and treatment of food and meat waste.

New controls stemming from the Animal By Products Regulations (ABPR), which started to bite in 2003, have meant that many avenues for dealing with food factory and retail waste have closed.

With landfill rapidly disappearing as a disposal option, the pressing challenge for the food industry is to find new alternatives.

This seminar run by the Food Processing Faraday and supported by Yorkshire Forward and entitled "Food Industry Waste and the ABPR - Real Solutions" will be taking place at Brooklands Hotel, near Barnsley at 1.30 pm on 10th March 2005.

Ian Johnstone, Proprietor, Beckingham Foods Limited will share the experiences of a regional baker that under his guidance has found a zero cost option of reprocessing of unsold bread, pies and pasties as dog food, in a Defra approved facility.

He will recount the company's story, highlighting the pitfalls, benefits and costs associated with the waste disposal options they uncovered on their way to finding their optimum solution.

Nick James, Regional Lead Veterinary officer for the North of England will be explaining the waste classifications and providing the latest interpretations of the ABPR.

Nick will also provide a current insight into new disposal technologies such as closed vessel composting, aerobic and anaerobic digestion and bio-gas treatments.

As an Envirowise adviser Terry Lander, spends his time fast tracking the waste minimisation programmes of many food processing companies.

Delegates attending the "Waste Club" seminar will benefit from Terry's experiences and gain a valuable insight into the main methods of curbing waste before it is created.

In addition they will explore a variety of creative alternative uses and markets for waste and hear about the services available to them via Envirowise.

Inetec's Thermomechanical Treatment machines use a patented process to convert food waste and contaminated packaging materials to a useful source of renewable energy - this takes the form of a biofuel that can be used to power the machines and make an energy contribution back to the running of a business, in the form of steam or hot water.

Delegates will find out about this genuinely novel processing system which is compliant with the ABPR and is available in a variety of modules for on and off-site use.

John Stanford, Technology Translator, Food Processing Faraday commented, "The "Food Industry Waste Club" serves as a forum for food processing companies to develop and exchange best practice for dealing with food waste streams, to understand the impact of environmental legislation and also find out about relevant technologies and funding opportunities.

This is a tremendous opportunity for companies in the region to share in real experiences and find practical solutions to food waste minimisation and disposal problems.

We anticipate a vigorous debate." If your company is located in the region and you would like to know more about the "Food Industry Waste Club" then please contact Lesley Du Plessis, Food Processing Faraday.

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