Sustainabilitylive! 2012 Seminar Programme - A 'World First' for IMC and Imperial College - Turning Food Waste into a Valuable Resource

In a 'world first' IMC has supplied and installed a self-contained mobile building, called the 'CompPod', to Imperial College in early 2010 that is fitted out with all of the equipment necessary to recycle the 110 tonnes of food waste that the College produces on its largest, South Kensington Campus each year. IMC's solution to the diversion of caterers' food waste from landfill is founded on an extensive 3 year research programme that was concluded in 2006 by senior academics at London's Imperial College and enables waste producers to recycle their food waste into high quality compost on site. This paper is a must for all catering, waste management and sustainability professionals who will discover how to turn food waste into a valuable resource whilst reducing overall operating costs. Delegates will have the opportunity to learn from the experience of Imperial College who process the 2 tonnes of food waste each day into a high grade compost that is then used to fertilize the campus gardens. As a consequence IMC will reveal how they are achieving direct savings of around £104,000 per annum in food waste treatment and disposal with a Return On Investment of just 16 months. CompPod has won a host of awards including the 2010 Sustainable FM award for 'Most sustainable public sector organisation - Education', the Highly Commended Award at the 2010 National Recycling Awards and the 2010 Rushlight Organic Waste Award.