Essex County Council encourages food waste recycling for biogas

Feb 16, 2024

Essex County Council is encouraging households in its jurisdiction to recycle their uneaten food, as it can be used to generate green energy, as well as for fertiliser or compost.

The local authority aims to reuse, recycle or compost at least 70% of waste generated by 2030.

In Essex, most food recycling is collected by residents' local councils' waste and recycling teams, and taken to local processing plants.Anything that is not food, such as caddy liner bags or packaging, is then separated from the load.

The food is then processed and transformed into a biogas and fertiliser. This biogas is used to generate energy.

Essex County Council stated that, last year, it provided more than 37,000 tonnes of food waste, helping to power 6,310 homes across the UK for a year.

That equates to CO2 savings of 32,776 tonnes – which works out the same as taking 16,189 cars off the road for a year, it added.

The authority has launched a campaign that has involved delivering stickers, food caddy liners and leaflets to over 350,000 homes in participating areas in Essex.

Councillor Peter Schwier, Essex County Council’s Climate Czar and Cabinet member for Environment, Waste, Reduction and Recycling, said: "Great work is already being done by thousands of Essex residents, but we can still do more.

"By putting food out in their designated recycling bins, households are helping to generate green energy and reducing the damage to our environment.

"Small actions can make a big difference and together we can tackle climate change to benefit generations to come.”

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Video: The Investment Opportunities of Industrial Hemp

The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is decades behind countries like Canada, France and China, but according to impact investor and this week’s podcast guest, Pierre Berard, it could flourish into a $2.2 billion industry by 2030 and create thousands of jobs.

To reach its potential, what the hemp industry needs most right now, Berard said, is capital investment.

Last month, Berard published a report titled “Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity — A Pioneering Venture for Investors and Corporations Driven by Environmental, Social and Financial Concerns” in which he lays out the case for investment.

It’s as if Berard, with this report, is waving a giant flag, trying to attract the eyes of investors, saying, “Look over here. Look at all this opportunity.”

Berard likens the burgeoning American hemp industry to a developing country.

“There is no capital. People don’t want to finance. This is too risky. And I was like, OK, this sounds like something for me,” he said.

As an impact investor who manages funds specializing in agro-processing companies, Berard now has his sights set on the U.S. hemp industry, which he believes has great economic value as well as social and environmental benefits.

He spent many years developing investment in the agriculture infrastructure of developing countries in Latin America and Africa, and said the hemp industry feels similar.

“It is very nascent and it is a very fragmented sector. You have pioneers and trailblazers inventing or reinventing the field after 80 years of prohibition,” he said. “So I feel very familiar with this context.”

On this week’s hemp podcast, Berard talks about the report and the opportunities available to investors in the feed, fiber and food sectors of the hemp industry.

Building an industry around an agricultural commodity takes time, he said. According to the report, “The soybean industry took about 50 years to become firmly established, from the first USDA imports in 1898 to the U.S. being the top worldwide producer in the 1950s.”

Berard has a plan to accelerate the growth of the hemp industry and sees a four-pillar approach to attract investment.

First, he said, the foundation of the industry is the relationship between farmers and processors at the local level.

Second, he said the industry needs what he calls a “federating body” that will represent it, foster markets and innovations, and reduce risk for its members and investors.

The third pillar is “collaboration with corporations that aim to secure or diversify their supply chains with sustainable products and enhance their ESG credentials. This will be key to funding the industry and creating markets,” he said.

The fourth pillar is investment. Lots of it. Over $1.6 billion over seven years. This money will come from government, corporations, individual investors, and philanthropic donors.

The 75-page report goes into detail about the hemp industry, its environmental and social impact, and the opportunities available to investors.

Read the report here: Seeing the U.S. Industrial Hemp Opportunity

Also on this episode, we check in with hemp and bison farmer Herb Grove from Brush Mountain Bison in Centre County, PA, where he grew 50 acres of hemp grain. We’ll hear about harvest and dry down and crushing the seed for oil and cake.