Composting food waste on the Isles of Scilly

Context

The Isles of Scilly does not currently recycle domestic food waste. Waste is transported to the mainland for incineration, incurring significant carbon emissions and financial costs. Food waste also represents lost nutrients that could support local food production; demand for fertilisers is high on Scilly, but the importation and carbon costs are significant. Food waste also presents a potential risk to public health and wellbeing, requiring residents to store mixed waste in large containers, sometimes in hard to access locations. Interest in recycling, food production and composting are high, yet only a few residents compost vegetable waste. 

Aims and Objectives

The Isles of Scilly Community Venture (IOSCV), a not-for-profit company, are exploring whether the installation of a digester on the main island, St Mary’s, would be viable. With community support, they aim to replace waste export and compost import, and increase circularity within the island economy. IOSCV and their stakeholders have identified two challenges:

1. how to create high-quality composted soil improver from local, highly variable, food waste stocks; and
2. how to develop socially and financially sustainable waste collection and compost production and distribution arrangements.

The York team and IOSCV will work together on these issues, with the York team bringing disciplinary knowledge in compost processes and characterisation; novel sensors for in-situ compost evaluation; waste-to-resources supply chains; and co-design of context-specific institutional arrangements.