Manufacturers could save hundreds of thousands of pounds a year by diverting materials from waste into so-called 'co-products', according to research.
The research, commissioned by Associated British Agriculture (AB Agri) - part of Associated British Foods - and carried out by agri-food consultancy Promar International, shows that senior managers in food and drink manufacture do not realise the true potential of waste.
It is estimated that the total UK co-products market amounts to 4.9Mt a year, including liquid, moist and dried animal feeds, and is worth an estimated £490M. But that figure is considered to be underestimated.
"Sending co-products to landfill is an increasingly expensive and environmentally unacceptable practice," said Promar divisional director John Giles. He said that retailers such as Waitrose, Tesco and Marks & Spencer were behind the drive to get suppliers to cut their environmental impact.
Giles is sceptical about manufacturers meeting the Food and Drink Federation's target of sending zero food and packaging waste to landfill by 2015 under present projections. "Our research reveals a mixed level of understanding on what the options are, or the opportunities that a well-planned co-products strategy can provide," he said.
Companies ranging from brewing and distilling to vegetable processors, bakery and sugar processors, such as British Sugar, are already benefitting from selling co-products, but the potential is considerably greater, according to AB Agri. Where co-products are produced, it is often possible to add further value to them, it added.
"While significant volumes of co-products are marketed into the animal feed sector, there is still scope to divert more material from landfill," said Dave Forster, commercial director of KW Trident, the co-product marketing subsidiary of AB Agri. AB Agri has marketed over 50Mt of co-products over the past 25 years.
"Many companies who already sell co-products into the livestock industry could capture more value by identifying different end users and regarding them as potential revenue earners, not a headache to be got rid of as quickly as possible," added Forster. "It's the lack of knowledge that prevents people from having a strategy."