Organic waste
For the organic fraction of waste from
food, widespread separation and
recycling is not commonplace in most
food supply and distribution systems.
This paper has highlighted a few of the
many small scale examples of organic
waste from food being successfully and
sustainably reused or recycled.
Nevertheless, such practices have not
generally been adopted on a wide
scale and have therefore had only a
marginal impact on the overall level of
organic waste that is diverted to other
uses, especially in urban areas. There
are also few examples of successful
large scale initiatives to divert organic
waste, such as the Cuban swill
programme. (See Box 3.9). Many
schemes have proved difficult and
costly to run. The failure of many
centralised municipal composting
plants exemplifies some of the many
complex issues involved.