VIDEO: MITIE set to roll out commercial food waste collection service

MITIE is launching a food waste collection service for its customers next year, including the supply of compostable cutlery, which it claims could result in cost savings of up to 75%.


The announcement was made at a waste seminar hosted by the outsourcing firm for a number of its key clients last week in London (November 30). MITIE’s managing director for waste operations, Mike Taylor, told delegates the service would be up and running in the first half of 2012.

Speaking about waste minimisation being the next big challenge that businesses face, Taylor said: “We are getting down to what is left – and the majority of that is food waste and the packaging around that.”

He added that MITIE had also formed a partnership with a homeless charity and said that for every tonne of food waste collected, the company would give £11 to the charity.


Taylor urged delegates to “get away from thinking ‘we’ve got a waste issue’ – it’s a resource issue. You can make money from it.” As an example, he pointed to recent outcomes from a sustainability pilot MITIE had undertaken with seven big waste producers, looking at best practice through waste outsourcing, which resulted in collective savings of £7.4m.

In addition, MITIE has recently acquired CORE, which is now composting of 90% of all food waste at IKEA’s Edinburgh store. Since partnering with CORE in October 2009, IKEA has gone from zero food recycling to diverting 90% of it from landfill.

Maxine Perella

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