Raising Awareness on Food Waste - Within The Municipal Organization

By project CORE

Published on 05 August 2024

Sweden

Norra Mellansverige

Söderhamn

About this good practice

All departments within the municipality did not sort food waste and the food waste instead ended up in combustible waste. As of January 1, 2024, everyone is required to sort food waste due to the new law.

Two environmental educators were hired by the municipality to analyze the waste in a preliminary study. They have then informed the municipality's departments and managers about waste sorting. They have also sent out information digitally to all municipal employees. The last step means that the physical conditions for waste sorting must be improved.

This project has been carried out in collaboration with the municipality-owned company Söderhamn Nära. One of the main direct beneficiaries is our stakeholder Ekogas (the regional biogas site). The production of biogas benefits if more food waste is sorted and collected instead of being thrown in the residual waste.

Resources needed

The costs are estimated to amount to a total of SEK 12 million (approx. 1 million EUR), of which SEK 8.5 million for recycling rooms, waste sorting cupboards, and remodeling of existing recycling stations and SEK 3.5 million for waste sorting furniture.

Evidence of success

The sample analysis of the waste showed that approx. 24,9 % of the municipal organization's combustible waste consisted of food waste. The inventory also showed where brown bins for sorting food waste were missing.

Work is currently underway to place waste sorting furnitures in order to create the right conditions for sorting correctly. Futher results of the project are not known yet, but new analyzes of the waste are to be made in the future.

Potential for learning or transfer

This project has given insight into how the sorting of food waste works today, both the degree of sorting but also what the conditions for sorting correctly look like. It has been instructive to see where things go wrong and, above all, where the physical prerequisites are lacking. This means that we can now make efforts in the right place.