Should food go down the sink?

I have been thinking a lot about food waste this week and which is the best way to treat it.Obviously we all agree that the best thing is not to produce any in the first place! And we re doing pretty well at that since the rubbish diet started here in Shropshire!!! I am not talking about how to treat the packet of ham that's gone off or the half a loaf of bread that nobody got round to eating or chicken bones. I am thinking about the plate scraps - such as peas and gravy, the odd bit of meat or dessert the rest of the cereal bowl. What is the best way to deal with these things? Ok - I have learned this week that quite a lot of UK sewers take sewage to anaerobic digestion plants where stuff gets broken down and energy is produced instead of methane being released to the atmosphere. Then I heard about these Food Waste Disposers which are designed to macerate food as it goes down the sink - which is an alternative to collecting food waste from households - as it gets transported to the AD plant via the sewer - neat eh? So I was thinking if your waste water and sewage is going to an AD plant why not just mash up any waste food and wash it down the plug hole? The risk is blocking the pipes but as long as the food is mashed up into really small pieces it seems to me to be a better to wash waste food down the sewer than to put it in your refuse where it will end up making your bin smell, then go to landfill releasing methane to the atmosphere. So am I right - is it ok to mash up food waste and stick it down the drain? If it is ok - then I can put my dog on a diet too!

InSinkerators for food waste means zero collection cost

From the Shropshire waste blog: Shrewsbury sinks food waste An national study has been launched in Shrewsbury with funding from the Local Government Association. The project will investigate the impact of Food Waste Disposers which are being fitted in the new David Wilson Homes development, Riverside Meadows, on the site of the old Shrewsbury Town football stadium. Philippa Roberts from local environmental consultants Low and Behold who are managing the project explained, “Waste water treatment works like the one in Shrewsbury use Anaerobic Digestion to process their sewage. This same technology can be used to process food waste; producing renewable energy in the process.” The Food Waste Disposers supplied by Insinkerator UK are electrically powered units which are plumbed into kitchen sinks. They grind food waste into tiny particles which can then simply wash down the sink. This will enable the residents to send their food waste for anaerobic digestion without the need for it to be collected. As well as making it hygenic and easy for the residents to cut down on what goes in their bins, this project will also help to produce renewable energy, reduce waste to landfill and thus potentially make huge financial sense. The Council spends millions of pounds of taxpayers money collecting and disposing of waste each year and with around one-fifth of all domestic waste being food waste it makes sense to look at all available options to tackle this. In particular in flats, waste storage and collection can be difficult and some dont have access to a garden for home composting so food waste will generally go in the bin and end up going to landfill. This project is providing alternative means of managing this food waste which can be more sustainable, more cost-effective and simpler for the residents. It will be really interesting to see how this study goes - I imagine bones might cause a few problems in the grinder. can anyone join in?