Organic waste has long been a major focus for UNTHA shredding technology. And as our MD Marcus Brew and director of global business development Gary Moore plan to head to ‘down under’ to see partners and customers, we predict that conversations on the topic will really peak.

So, when it comes to the processing of food waste and garden organics — referred to by many in Australia as ‘FOGO’ — here are 10 things you need to know from the UNTHA team…

1. A third of food waste produced worldwide, is wasted — a frightening fact when you consider our mounting environmental conscience. But this has long been a big problem on a global scale. That’s why, many years ago, we developed a custom RS40 — a specially-adapted version of our patented four shaft shredder, engineered specifically for this tricky material stream.

2. Food waste and other organic material can be extremely corrosive which leads to high wear on processing technologies. When it comes to our organic shredding solutions we’ve therefore tried to think of everything to reduce downtime and whole life running costs, including special sealants to prevent material ingress.

3. Green waste has been a popular application for the UNTHA XR to get its teeth into in recent years, as this video spotlight shows. You can learn a bit more about the UNTHA XR-RC, in this more detailed interview with Gary Moore.

4. Foreign objects and tricky-to-shred items are common in many organic waste streams, from cutlery mistakenly collected in restaurant food scraps, through to bulky logs often thrown out with green waste. Whatever shredding technology you opt for, when it comes to due diligence, ask how the machinery is built to handle difficult materials and withstand unshreddables.

5. Output homogeneity matters for a lot of our clients, and it’s typically no different for our food, organic, and garden waste operators. Whether we’re processing food waste for anaerobic digestion or green materials for biomass, an on-specification particle is usually a top priority. And our flexible shredders are always up to the job, thanks to their ultra-configurable screens.

6. There are many uses of shredded organic material though. We’ve processed high-calorific surplus food to create a nutrient rich animal feed, we process green waste for landscaping mulch, and we’ve destroyed non-saleable edible products so they don’t end up in the food chain. Sometimes our shredders are simply used to open food containers and bags to liberate the materials that are housed inside — simply tell us the challenge and we’ll advise which shredding technology is best suited for the job.

7. Our work with Advetec — a true pioneer in the scientific bio-degradation of waste — remains one of our favourite collaborations. Still an active client today with a mounting number of projects, here’s a case study from the archives.

8. In the UK, organic waste collection methodologies vary from one local authority to the next, which risks restricting wider recycling progress. Some councils are extremely progressive when it comes to composting encouragement, for example, whereas others offer very few options as standard, which means perfectly recyclable materials find themselves contaminated because segregation at source simply doesn’t occur. The entire supply chain therefore continues to have a huge job on its hands to keep educating everyone, regarding best practice and the role we each play in meeting targets.

9. This is not a problem isolated to the UK however. We saw a great article the other day, which strived to achieve clarity for households in Australia – you can check it out here.

10. From hospitality leftovers, to international catering waste, slaughterhouse byproducts, packaged food products, garden and green materials, organic waste is a big topic — and one that we could talk about all day. To continue the conversation, please get in touch.

*There are already a number of UNTHA shredders installed throughout Australia, processing waste wood, tyres, C&I, e-scrap, confidential materials, complex bulky wastes, municipal waste and more. To talk to us about our experience here, or to organise a reference visit, please contact Gary Moore.