Food Waste Recycling

December 8, 2008 by Eugene Tay
Filed under Recycle

In Singapore, 568,000 tonnes of food waste was generated in 2008 and the recycling rate is 12%. Food waste is usually processed as animal feed, and undergoes aerobic or anaerobic digestion to produce compost or energy.

Let’s take a closer look at food recycling:

Food Recycling in Singapore

There is a local recycling company that collects soya bean waste, spent grains and spent yeast from food industries, and processes them into animal feed.

A new recycling plant collects and turns food waste into methane and compost using an anaerobic digestion process. The digestion process involves microorganisms breaking down the food waste in reactors in the absence of oxygen, thus producing methane or biogas that can be burned to generate energy. The digested food waste can be used as compost for planting.

Watch this video for a simple explanation of anaerobic digestion:

Food waste is also recycled using a mechanical composting process. Some organisations use an aerobic digestion or composting machine to turn food waste into compost. The composting process involves microorganisms breaking down the food waste in the machine in the presence of oxygen, thus avoiding the production of methane. The digested food waste can be used as compost for planting.

What Can I Do

Food waste is not commonly collected from homes for recycling, so what you can do is to reduce your food waste by not wasting food. Check out our tips on Don’t Waste Food.

For businesses and organisations, you can use our online business waste exchange, Waste is not Waste, to find a recycling collector or someone who wants your food waste. We connect businesses and organisations that generate waste materials with those who want the materials, thus helping both parties save time and money while helping the environment.

Visit Waste is not Waste to learn more about us, the benefits and how it works. Remember that waste is not waste, but potential resources to be used again.