HMP Lincoln Reduces Food Waste

Lincoln Prison has installed an eco-smart food waste dryer, which has reduced its off-the-plate food waste by about 80 per cent.

Off-the-plate food waste is simply the food that we haven’t eaten after a meal that cannot otherwise be recycled. Because it has a high water content, drying it reduces its volume considerably and produces a sandy textured output that looks a bit like ground coffee.

This has considerably reduced the cost of getting rid of waste food for the prison, and the output can be mixed with other composting materials and put back on the land as a nutrient. It can also be turned in to briquettes with other waste material and used as a fuel.

“We were keen to make the prison more sustainable and the food dryer really is at the cutting edge of recycling technology,” explains Industries Manager Allan Jamieson, who is spearheading the project for the prison.

“We have been experimenting with a range of after uses and a number of possibilities are now coming to fruition.”

The dryers are supplied by Lincoln-based firm Bergmann Direct who specialise in a range of recycling technologies.