Retail boost as some try to avoid bagging up food waste

Thursday 27 September 2018

Despite food waste being free to throw away under the new waste strategy, retailers have said there's been a "definite increase" in the number of waste disposal units being sold.

Both Luxioso and DHS have had more customers asking about built in macerators while Guernsey Water said it has "some concern" about the situation.

Some homeowners are still worrying about putting their food caddies outside on windy nights, with reports of maggots appearing inside some internal food waste bins, while the utility firm separately said retailers are "using this as an opportunity to sell kitchen waste disposal units (macerators) to discard food waste."

Water Quality Manager, Margaret McGuinness, said the disposal units won't save you money in the long run and they can be bad news for the island's drains.

“Although considered by some as potential money-saving devices and possibly more hygienic than food waste caddies, macerated food and fat can combine in a customer’s own wastewater pipes resulting in expensive blockages.  More widely they will cause more problems in the island’s sewer network."

Put simply, Mrs McGuinness said that while a food disposal unit in the kitchen sink may "sound a sensible option" the reality is that "food waste cannot simply be disposed of down the drain."

Some of the risks associated with putting macerated food down the drains includes: 

• fat combining in the pipes necessitating expensive blockage clearance
• an increased risk of foul flooding to downstream properties
• excessive nutrient loading in the sea, which may impact on the island’s marine environment

“Our sewers need to be resilient in times of heavy rainfall and the loss of flow capacity caused by fats, oils and grease (FOG) can be significant," said Mrs McGuinness. "Even if the food is liquefied the FOG in it congeal and bind to other solids in sewage such as wipes and risk blocking the sewer causing sewage flooding and pollution.

“Our aim is to ensure that our operations do not have a detrimental impact on the water environment which is particularly important for our island community as water plays such a vital role in our everyday lives.  It is therefore important that customers understand the environmental impact of the way that they use water and help us to protect the environment by using water wisely and keeping FOG and other non-biodegradable products out of our sewers. 

“We encourage customers to continue to be responsible when it comes to dealing with their waste.  The only things that should be disposed of into the wastewater system are the three ‘P’s’ (poo, pee and paper).”

One of Guernsey's  design and retail firms, DHS, has been offering a competition via Facebook to win a Maxmatic Macerator 2000, which by Wednesday 26 September had been shared close to 350 times, suggesting there is an appetite for waste disposal units.

Managing Director Martyn Duquemin said there had been a definite increase in interest in the equipment, "understandably" in his opinion.

He said the idea of recycling food waste is good in theory but his customers have raised concerns about when the weather changes and the wind is much stronger than it has been so far, with some also saying it's a pain to do it.  

Mr Duquemin said the food waste disposal units which are available locally are, "convenient - we have one at home and I wouldn't be without it. They're relatively inexpensive, starting at £150 plus installation.

"They turn the food waste into mulch and it goes into the drainage system. I can understand Guernsey Water's concerns, the fatbergs that we see in London are a concern too, but they really are fantastic and we've had a definite increase in interest in them, understandably."

Justin at Luxioso said, "the introduction of the new waste strategy certainly has made people think about how they are going to get rid of their waste, I think that people like the idea of a waste disposal unit as it is very efficient at disposing of food matter."

Similarly to the ones sold by other local firms, the ones available at Luxioso also "macerate waste into a pulp and then it is sent down the drain with your waste water."

"This is a massive plus for busy households and the initial outlay for the supply and fit of the macerator is soon covered by the saving you will make in the waste charges," said Justin on behalf of Luxioso. "I think generally the public are behind the new waste strategy, the current proposals seem too big a little too far too soon for some households and people are wanting to find other means to get rid of their house hold waste." 

Pictured top: File image of a waste disposal unit.