Waste ReductionImprove the Environment

and Reduce Costs

Climate Change – Why worry?

Climate relatively stable for the last 10,000 years

The average sea level around the UK is now about 10cm higher than it was in 1900. Source: Cox et al. [2000]

Climate Change – Thermohaline Circulation (THC)

Heat from the equator is dispersed

Stream turned off 13,000 years ago Source: Hadley Centre

Recent research indicates a 30% reduction in the current

Climate Change – Thermohaline Circulation

Source:Source: Hadley Centre

Climate Change – Why worry?

Source: Hadley Centre

1.5 °C could cause – Greenland ice sheet – 3 Million Km3

– 7m rise in sea levels– 10,000 billions of metric tons of methane

hydrates to destabilise

Government action- Environmental impact

–Landfill waste reduction–Product life cycle–Emissions reduction–Energy use reduction

Economic climate change

Competition for energy Rising fuel prices Increased pressure to comply with

legislation Increased need to cut overheads and

production costs

Reduce Waste

Cost for manufacturers– For every tonne of household waste produced,

commercial, industrial and construction businesses produce another six tonnes

– 5 million tonnes of hazardous waste in England and Wales every year

– Manufacturers could save around 1% of turnover through simple, yet effective, techniques to minimise waste

Source: Defra

Increase Energy Efficiency

SMEs are wasting as much as 30 % of their energy, equal to £1.1 billion or an average of £7,000 per business

– Motors are the biggest energy wasters» Use a variable speed drive» A 50 % reduction in speed = 87.5 % reduction in

energy consumption» This could mean payback time of less than one

year

– Lighting Energy saving bulbs Turn unused lights off

– Heating Air conditioning can double your energy

bills– Buy energy efficient equipment and maintain it

Compressors can often be wasting £30 in every £100

– Reduce use of materials, packaging– Reduce transport costs by sourcing locally

Increase Energy Efficiency

Energy UnitsMultiple Name Symbol Multipl

eName Symbol

100 watt-hour W·h      

103 kilowatt-hour kW·h 10–3 milliwatt-hour mW·h

106 megawatt-hour MW·h 10–6 microwatt-hour µW·h

109 gigawatt-hour GW·h 10–9 nanowatt-hour nW·h

1012 terawatt-hour TW·h 10–12 picowatt-hour pW·h

1015 petawatt-hour PW·h 10–15 femtowatt-hour fW·h

1018 exawatt-hour EW·h 10–18 attowatt-hour aW·h

1021 zettawatt-hour ZW·h 10–21 zeptowatt-hour zW·h

1024 yottawatt-hour YW·h 10–24 yoctowatt-hour yW·h

Food Miles

a term which refers to the distance food travels from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer or end-user. It is one dimension used in assessing the environmental impact of food.

is part of a broader issue of sustainability which deals with a large range of issues, including local food

the direct environmental, social and economic costs of food transport are over £9 billion each year

How Food Travels Recent findings indicate that it is not only how far

the food has traveled but how it has traveled that is important to consider.

The positive environmental effects of specialist organic farming may be offset by increased transportation, unless it is produced by local farms.

But even then the logistics and effects on other local traffic may play a big role.

Also, many trips by personal cars to external shopping centres would have a negative environmental impact compared to a few truck loads to neighborhood stores that can be easily accessed by walking or cycling.

A locavore endeavors to eat food from within a foodshed having a radius of 100 miles.

Criticism of food miles A comparison total energy used in food

production in Europe and New Zealand, taking into account energy used to ship the food to Europe for consumers.

New Zealand agriculture tends to apply less fertilisers (which require large amounts of energy to produce and cause significant CO2 emissions)

and animals are able to graze year round outside eating grass instead of large quantities of brought-in feed such as concentrates.

Dairy is twice as efficient, Sheepmeat four times as efficient Apples: NZ is more energy efficient

Reduce transport costs by sourcing locally

Food Miles Companies with under 100 tons of fruit per

year have an overall energy turnover of 1.1 to 2.5 kWh/litre while companies with more than 2,000 tons per year have less than 0.5 kWh/l.

Just in terms of transport and distribution, small fruit companies need 0.5-0.8 kWh/l while even though they are covering large distances, the large companies use only 0.1-0.3 kWh/l.

Comparative shipping Cost

Unit Operations

Equipment

Continuous operations

UHT

Concentration of Liquids

Refrigeration

Reveres Cycle Heating

Fermentation of Waste

Cofermentation– Using food industry waste combined

with waste from other sources such as sewage.