Many restaurateurs and shopkeepers are reacting to a greater demand for eco-accountability from their customers by using local suppliers. In most cases it’s a win-win situation – low food miles, high traceability and a boost for the local economy. All very well, but at the less glamorous end of the food chain how to deal with the leftovers is becoming a key green issue.

Thanks to the recognition of the damage done to the environment by landfill sites, the disposal of food waste has become an important issue in the battle against climate change. The UK scraps £20bn worth of produce every year, and a report produced by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in March 2007 states that if we avoid throwing away food that could still be consumed, the carbon saving would be equivalent to taking one out of every five cars off the road.

One restaurateur tackling the problem is Max Mason, owner of The Big Bang Restaurants in Oxford and Bristol. He has hit on a winning formula by serving bangers and mash not with greens but with a green conscience.

“Any leftover food that would normally go to landfills is instead collected in a bin in the kitchen,” says Mason. “When it’s full, which is about twice a week, it’s picked up by the farmer who provides our sausages. He then feeds it to his pigs, completing the cycle.

“The arrangement fits in perfectly with our way of doing things. Not only is it green and means our waste doesn’t cause damage to the environment, but it also helps support local suppliers as the farmer can make a massive saving on feeding his pigs.”

Food shops are also having to change their practices in order to prevent unsold and out-of-date food simply being thrown away.

John Cossham, an active member of community-composting project York Rotters, believes the answer lies in composting. He collects unsold fruit, vegetables and other produce such as coffee grains and tea bags from local businesses and composts them in his back garden.

“Sending waste to landfill sites is wrong,” says Cossham. “It’s easy to recycle by composting, even for commercial businesses.”

Using only a bicycle and a trailer, Cossham manages to compost a staggering 100kg from his rounds each week. One of the shops that benefit from his crusade is the York branch of eco-supermarket chain Out of this World, and the manager, Marianne Dickson, is extremely grateful.

“John has been a member of Out of this World for years, so when he found out we were setting up a shop in York he asked us how we were disposing of our waste. When we said we didn’t know, he offered his services.

“To be honest we are very lucky – it is difficult to dispose of our unsold produce in an eco-friendly fashion, and it’s very unusual to have a composter who is able to take away organic produce.”

It is unusual, but Cossham feels more shops and restaurants can, and should, take simple steps to solve their waste problem. He believes that better stock rotation and more special offers would mean that the amount of out-of-date produce needing to be thrown away would be limited.

“The next best thing for a business is to try to form a partnership with local individuals or organisations that can collect regularly,” says Cossham. “There are plenty of community composting groups who will take your waste.”

As landfill sites continue to fill up, the increased economic demands on city councils to reduce the waste they send there will be passed on to businesses. Finding a new way to deal with their leftovers is something that more shops and restaurants will be forced to address, for the sake of their bank balance as well as the earth's wellbeing.

Ethical bites

Acorn House
69 Swinton Street, WC1 tel: 020 7812 1842

London's first genuine eco-friendly restaurant has been built from organic and recycled materials and offers a seasonal menu using locally sourced produce. The bill comes with what looks like a book of matches, but is actually a packet of seeds with planting instructions.

Hoxton Apprentice
16 Hoxton Square, London N1, tel: 020 7739 6022

Jamie Oliver style charitable restaurant that trains up the disadvantaged and serves a broad menu of pan-European cuisine at reasonable prices.

The Millrace
2-4 Commercial Road, Leeds, tel: 0113 275 7555

The Millrace uses organically certified ingredients sourced from Yorkshire's excellent fare, thus reducing food miles.

Riverford Field Kitchen
Wash Barn, Buckfastleigh, Devon, tel: 01803 762 074

Book up for a farm tour followed by a cooking demonstration and communal lunch using ingredients from this pioneering organic farm.

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