While environmental awareness campaigns tend to focus on the carbon footprint of our activities and lifestyles, the risk posed by the emission of methane gas is often largely overlooked.This is according to Julia Hailes, writing for the Daily Telegraph, who says methane is a far more harmful substance. But it is increasingly becoming the focus of some innovative developments.Methane is about 24 times worse [than carbon dioxide] in terms of its global warming impact, says Ms Hailes, but a project in Bedfordshire is siphoning off the gas in order to use it for fuel.Biogen takes 30,000 tonnes of kitchen food waste and removes the methane to turn it into fuel for specially-adapted vehicles, leaving the rotting organic matter to be made into compost.While such schemes are only beginning to appear across the UK, kitchen users can themselves reduce the amount of food waste bound for landfill sites by using a waste disposal unit.Wastemaid have developed a range of excellent value devices, suitable for the smallest homes to the largest family households.Each model features a Bio Shield to prevent odour emission and each features a warranty and lifetime corrosion guarantee.According to the Waste and Resources Action Plan, the UK currently throws away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year, which accounts for approximately a third of the food purchased.