Every Halloween, the UK lights up with around 17 million pumpkins carved into spooky Jack O’ Lanterns. But here’s the frightful part: almost 80% of those pumpkins go uneaten, and around 67% of UK families toss at least one pumpkin straight into the bin. That’s a ghostly waste!
Why is this a Halloween horror? 👻
Most of these pumpkins become food waste that rots away in landfills, releasing a monster-sized amount of greenhouse gases. Food waste alone is estimated to haunt the planet with about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
How can we avoid this pumpkin predicament?
The obvious trick? Treat yourself and eat the pumpkin! But if pumpkin pie isn’t your thing, make sure it doesn’t go to waste—toss those pumpkins scraps into your food caddie bin. Many councils across the UK collect food waste, including pumpkins, and send it off to companies like Bio Capital, where the leftovers get a new (after)life!
Bio Capital: From Haunted Guts to Glorious Green Power 🎃💡
With sites across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, Bio Capital takes your Halloween leftovers and other food waste, turning them into eco-friendly biomethane gas that is injected straight into the local gas grid. The biomethane also creates electricity and heat for local homes and businesses, fuels CNG vehicles, and even becomes high-quality biofertiliser for local farmers, helping to grow future crops (and pumpkins)!
With the power to heat up to 80,000 homes each year, Bio Capital’s facilities diverted 440,000 tonnes of food waste from landfills last year alone, saving 270,000 tonnes of CO₂. That’s like taking 131,068 cars off UK roads for a whole year!
In some parts of the UK, Bio Capital even collects food waste with its fleet of low-carbon biofuel-powered vehicles. And as a bonus treat, the AD process produces nutrient-rich bio-fertiliser to enrich soil health and boost yields for local farms, creating a truly circular solution that’s all treat, no trick. So this Halloween, let’s carve out a little change—because every pumpkin can pack a punch against climate change! 🎃🍃
