An environmental body has revealed that enough power could be generated to power Aberdeen Science Centre for an entire day if 363 families in the city chose to recycle all of their food waste for one week.
Zero Waste Scotland yesterday urged people across the north-east to correctly dispose of their unavoidable food waste, outlining the potential benefits the practice can have.
Alison McKinnie, the charity’s project manager, said: “It is important that the people of Aberdeen are aware of the real damage food waste is doing to the environment, so that they are empowered to make an informed decision to do their bit to reduce and recycle it.
“The best thing people can do to combat food waste, and the damage it causes, is to take steps to reduce the amount of food they throw out in the first place.
“This can be achieved by planning food shopping better, making more use of freezers and being more creative with leftovers.
“Some food waste, such as banana peel, is unavoidable.
“But if residents in Aberdeen chose to recycle all of their unavoidable food waste it could be prevented from producing extremely harmful gases as it rots in landfill.”
Zero Waste Scotland has also revealed just one household’s weekly food waste could be enough to power two cycles of washing and that even a single banana peel could charge a mobile phone – twice.
Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham, said: “We want Scotland to be a global leader in fighting climate change, and recently announced numerous initiatives to do this.”
For tips on reducing and recycling food waste, people can visit greenerscotland.org
