Sainsbury's to send all waste to AD
31 Oct 2011
London – Sainsbury’s has signed a three-year deal with Biffa, which will see all food waste from the supermarket chain sent to anaerobic digestion plants around the country.
The food waste will be collected from Sainsbury’s distribution centres across the UK, and then processed to produce renewable energy to power homes and businesses.
According to Sainsbury’s, none of the food waste from its supermarkets is sent to landfill, but some of it goes to other waste-to-energy processes.
“Anaerobic digestion is the most efficient way to create energy from waste, so this new contract means our food waste is being put to the best possible use,” said Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury’s property director.
“It has taken quite some time for us to get into a position where we are able to send all of our food waste to AD due to a lack of facilities in the UK,” added Sachdev. “This new contract builds on our existing leadership position on AD, making us the largest retail user of AD in the country.”
Some of Sainsbury’s waste will be sent to Biffa’s ’super’ AD plant in Staffordshire, which is the biggest in the UK, processing up to 120,000 tonnes of food waste from homes and businesses every year.
The facility launched in June and has already started to produce energy. At full capacity it is expected to produce renewable energy to power up to 10,000 homes. A soil improver is also produced that can be used in the same way as compost.
