Food waste

How is food waste recycled?

When you recycle your food waste, it doesn't simply disappear – it's transformed into green energy and nutrient-rich fertiliser through a process called anaerobic digestion.

Once collected from your home, food waste is taken to an anaerobic digestion facility. Here, microorganisms called 'methanogens' break down the waste inside large, enclosed tanks. As the food decomposes in this oxygen-free environment, it produces biogas – a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.

This biogas is captured and used to generate renewable electricity, heat, and even transport fuels. The green energy produced can power homes and communities right across Wales. One full food waste caddy can produce enough energy to power a television for two hours.

The process also creates a liquid called digestate, a nutrient-rich bio-fertiliser. This is spread on farmland across Wales, helping farmers grow crops without relying on fossil fuel-derived artificial fertilisers.

By recycling your food waste, you're not only generating clean energy – you're also preventing methane from escaping into the atmosphere. When food breaks down in landfill, it releases methane as a greenhouse gas. In an anaerobic digestion facility, that same methane is captured and put to good use instead.