Stafford County Hospital Case Study

County Hospital invests in an environmentally friendly biodigester

The biodigester can digest up to 500kg of food waste in a 24-hour period, require little maintenance, and do not need to be cleaned out and leave no smell.

Food waste is converted into ‘grey water’ (wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without faecal contamination) that is safely discharged into the main drainage system.
The biodigesters are an alternative to macerators that can be expensive to operate and are being phased out, which is why at County Hospital the catering team chose to invest in an Aerobic Digestion Machine also known as a biodigester.

Food Waste Disposal in Hospitals

At UHNM we recognise that all organisations catering for patients or customers should initiate procedures which ensure all food waste is disposed of in an environmentally friendly fashion and ensures that all waste is monitored and reported accurately.

This supports the Trust in reducing food waste, and its carbon footprint and provides real-time food waste statistics to the waste management team.

Louise Jenkins, Transformation Project Manager, said: “Our catering staff are delighted with the new machine and how easy it is to use. The feedback we’ve had has been very positive, making a real difference in their daily duties. Our new Bio Digester at County Hospital meets our Trust objectives to dispose of our food waste in an environmentally safe way, providing us with data and monitoring reporting, whilst meeting our environmental targets. I feel these are important goals for our Trust to achieve in delivering.”

Mike Brown, Head of Soft Facilities Management, said: “This is a really positive step forward and using this equipment has allowed the Trust to reduce the impact of food waste on the environment and improve our reporting capabilities, which will now allow us to further reduce waste at source.”