Food Waste in the European Union - The Economic Utilisation of Food Co-Products - page 34

by 65% compared to 1995. The aim of the Landfill Directive is to reduce the
GHG emissions from landfill, however, it does not prescribe alternative waste
treatment options. In practice, Member States may opt for the least-cost waste
treatment option and hence further regulation has been developed.
The revised Waste Framework Directive and the subsequent European
Commission communications on biowaste management encourage the separate
collection of biowastes, the treatment of biowaste in a way that fulfils a high
level of environmental protection, and the use of environmentally safe materials
produced from biowaste, with specific reference to composting and anaerobic
digestion (AD). Biowaste is defined as biodegradable garden and park waste,
food and kitchen waste from households, restaurants, caterers and retailers,
and comparable waste from the food-processing sector. 13 Appropriately
treated biowaste is counted towards Member States binding recycling targets
for municipal waste. In addition, the European Commission committed to
assess the appropriateness of a specific biowaste recycling target. The feasibility
of biowaste recycling targets has been subject to consultation and the
Commission has published two detailed impact assessments that detail policy
options of implementing such a target and financial and environmental cost
benefit analysis. 14,15
End-of-waste quality standards are being developed so that compost and
digestate products may be successfully marketed, and to enhance user
confidence in the quality and safety of these products. The revised Waste
Framework Directive also establishes a minimum eciency threshold by which
waste incineration plants may be regarded as recovery; below this threshold
incineration is regarded as disposal within the waste hierarchy.

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3 .

2.11 Waste Management
Current waste management practices for food waste include:

landfill;
incineration;
animal feed;
composting;
anaerobic digestion.

There is no universal agreement on the most appropriate waste treatment
option for food waste, as this depends on a number of local factors including
the composition and quality of food waste, the collection infrastructure,
and the demand for products such as energy and soil improvers (see Figure 2.8).
The approach of each Member State typically can be described by one of the
following three scenarios: 13

high levels of incineration employed to divert waste from landfill, high
recovery including biological treatment;