Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has beaten tough new targets to cut food and associated packaging waste and increase recycling in a UK-wide Hospitality and Food Service voluntary agreement.

The agreement aims to cut food and associated packaging waste by 5% and increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste, which is being recycled, sent to anaerobic digestion or composted, up to 70% by 2015.

EICC has achieved a 5.1% reduction in total food and packaging waste volumes down from 87.0 tonnes to 82.6 tonnes, against a baseline established in 2012. In the same period EICC delivered a well above industry average 7.6% increase in its food and packaging waste recycling rate, up from 75.2% to 82.7%.

Welcoming the audit results EICC chief executive, Marshall Dallas said:

“A focus on waste reduction meets a clearly expressed need from our customers who rate concern for the environment highly when making venue choices and makes sound business sense because it maintains downward pressure on operating cost.”

The Hospitality and Food Service voluntary agreement is supported in Scotland by Zero Waste Scotland and WRAP. These government agencies provide support and funding, including free practical tools and training to tackle the estimated 53,500 tonnes of food waste that is currently disposed of every year in the Scottish hospitality industry.

EICC recently appointed resource recovery specialists, Olleco to process cooking oils and other food waste diverting them from landfill. The company converts waste into renewable resources such as biodiesel and biogas.