NHS Mid-Yorkshire Installs New Eco-Smart Food Waste Dryer

Dewsbury Hospital in the Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have just installed a new Eco-Smart Food Waste Dryer, an ES80 unit with a capacity of 50kg per day.

The dryer will help the hospital in its efforts to reduce the use of their macerator which is being phased out. Macerators, which chop up food waste and flush it into the drain system are illegal in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales but are still in widespread use in hospitals across England.

The dryer takes all types of food waste from preparation and leftovers and turns it into a dry, sterile powder, overnight. The powder is typically about 20% of the original weight and volume of food waste. The water content of food waste is evaporated off and re-condensed within the sealed unit and is discharged to a normal drain throughout the process, particle-free.

“We are pleased to be adopting a sustainable technology in the treatment of food waste” said Bob Maney, Catering Manager at Dewsbury Hospital. He went on: “Putting food waste into the drain system will soon be a thing of the past.”

David Boyd, Associate Director at Bergmann Direct said: “The Eco-Smart is a simple ‘plug and play’ technology which any organisation with 30kg to 1000kg and upwards of food waste a day can use. It is the hygienic solution, eliminating the risks from vermin and pests of food waste in bins and compactors. It has been standard technology in the Far East, the US and Canada for years where putting food waste into the drains is already illegal.”