International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

the organic waste fraction is no more frequent than that for residual waste.
Notwithstanding these points, environmental benefits are expected to flow from the
avoidance of landfilling.
33.7.1 Environmental Benefits – Prevention
The effects in terms of waste prevention are not unequivocally positive. Experience
elsewhere suggests that even where home composting schemes are promoted, if a
biowaste collection is offered to households free at the point of use, then the
possibility arises whereby households will set out far more waste for collection than
had hitherto been the case (see above). Once again, therefore, details of
implementation would need to be considered before one could pronounce on the
merits or otherwise of the Circular. If there is no increase in collected quantities, for
example, where charges are applied to garden waste collections, or where food waste
is targeted for collection (or both), then the preventative effect could be significant.
Some anecdotal evidence suggests that households who are more engaged in
recycling will tend to be more sensitised to food wasting habits. 624
The EU Environmental Impact of Products study suggested that the food, drink
tobacco and narcotics group of products accounted for 20-30% of the environmental
impact of most environmental impacts of consumption for all products (this is higher
for eutrophication). The highest proportion of impacts come from meat and meat
products, and from dairy products. 625 A recent review of literature also highlights
potentially significant environmental impacts from food production. Other literature
tends to support the view that rankings follow this pattern, though they highlight some
exceptions to these rules (for example, it may be that where rice cultivation leads to
methane releases from rice fields, climate change impacts are very significant). 626
Significantly, WRAP estimates that for every tonne of food waste avoided, around 4.5
tonnes of CO2 equ. are avoided. 627
To put this into context, the greenhouse gas benefits of reducing food waste by some
50kg per household (around 25% of the total) would deliver similar greenhouse gas
benefits as the energy generated from combusting all of Ireland’s household waste
(and would far exceed them one the emissions from the combustion itself were
considered).
It might be noted that the reference, in many places in the document, to ‘brown bin’
collections might not necessarily be helpful. Experience in some countries suggests
dedicated food waste collections might possess some features, which certainly make
624 See Exodus Market Research (2008) The Food We Waste, Report for WRAP, April 2008.
625 Tukker et al (2005) Environmental Impacts of Products (EIPRO) Analysis of the Life Cycle
Environmental Impacts Related to the Total Final Consumption of the EU-25, IPTS/ESTO, 2005.
626 See, for example, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (2003) Life Cycle Assessment in the Agrifood
Sector, Proceedings from the 4 th International Conference, October 6-8, 2003, Bygholm,
Denmark; Manchester Business School (2006) Environmental Impacts of Food Production and
Consumption, Report for Defra, December 2006.
627 Personal communication with Andrew Parry, WRAP.
537
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes