Food Waste Disposers

FWDs were invented over 70 years ago in the USA, where they are used in 50% of homes. In some major cities their use is now mandatory. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, people are urged to put more food waste down their “garbage disposals” because the district sewerage company is eager to increase the amount of food waste that it converts to electricity. For decades they have also been widely used in Australia and New Zealand.

In the UK FWDs are currently only used in about 6% of homes. As a result, the relatively small community of waste management and alternative energy policy makers is largely unfamiliar with the role that FWDs can play.

Concerns do arise from an assumption that FWDs could contribute to fat, oil and grease [FOG] in the sewers. Yet research from the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and most recently Sweden has consistently demonstrated that the output of FWDs flows easily through the sewers, does not settle and does not contribute to FOG.

AMDEA does not present FWDs as the sole solution to the kitchen food waste stream, but as one of a toolbox of options.  They do represent a valuable addition to recycling solutions, particularly in densely populated urban areas with multi occupancy housing.