Leeds Bradford Airport Food Waste Collection, Yorkshire
Leeds Bradford Airport Turns Food Waste Renewable.
With millions of passengers passing through the airport and a busy range of food and beverage facilities operating across the terminal, effective waste management forms an important part of keeping day-to-day operations running efficiently.
As part of its commitment to reducing its environmental impact, Leeds Bradford Airport works with ReFood to ensure unavoidable food waste is collected and recycled responsibly, turning what would otherwise be waste into valuable renewable resources.
The Challenge
A busy international airport presents a unique waste management challenge. With passengers, staff and food and beverage operators using the terminal throughout the day, significant volumes of food waste can be generated across multiple locations.
Leeds Bradford Airport needed a reliable food waste recycling service capable of working around a busy operational environment while maintaining high standards of hygiene and providing the flexibility required by a major transport hub.
The solution also needed to make food waste management straightforward for teams on site, ensuring bins could be collected efficiently and unavoidable food waste sent for responsible processing.
The Solution
ReFood provides Leeds Bradford Airport with a dedicated clean bin swap service, collecting approximately 16 food waste bins each week. Over the course of a year, this is expected to see around 832 bins serviced, providing the airport with a practical and hygienic solution for managing unavoidable food waste.
Rather than simply emptying and returning the same containers, ReFood's bin swap service provides clean, sanitised replacement bins at collection. This helps maintain hygiene standards, minimise odours and keep waste areas clean while making food waste separation straightforward for teams working across a busy airport environment.
Once collected, the food waste is transported for processing through anaerobic digestion. This process transforms unavoidable food waste into biogas, which can be used to generate renewable energy, alongside nutrient-rich biofertiliser for use in agriculture.
Based on estimated annual food waste volumes, the partnership could recycle approximately 66.56 tonnes of food waste every year.
Our impact and the next steps.
The environmental benefits go far beyond diverting food waste from disposal. The estimated annual food waste collected from Leeds Bradford Airport has the potential to generate approximately 17,971 kWh of renewable electricity, enough to power around 20 homes.
The anaerobic digestion process also produces nutrient-rich biofertiliser, with the airport's estimated annual food waste contributing enough to fertilise approximately 26.95 acres of agricultural land. In total, the service is estimated to save approximately 30.62 tonnes of CO₂ each year, including 14.64 tonnes through the displacement of fossil fuels and 15.97 tonnes by diverting food waste from landfill.
By working with ReFood, Leeds Bradford Airport is demonstrating how large, complex sites can introduce a practical food waste recycling solution that delivers measurable environmental benefits without compromising the efficiency of everyday operations.
From the terminal to the treatment plant, unavoidable food waste is being given a valuable new purpose.
ReEnergise your business with ReFood
Don't let food waste go to waste. Contact ReFood today to find out how our flexible food waste collection and recycling services can help your organisation turn unavoidable food waste into renewable energy.
