Running on rubbish: Supermarket comes off grid, powered by food waste

sainsbury_s-cannock

Imagine a grocery store sending zero waste to the landfill. That’s what is happening in the UK with Sainsbury’s stories. “Last summer Sainsbury’s achieved its 20×20 sustainability target of putting all its store waste to positive use – and diverting it from landfill.  All general waste from stores is recycled or turned into fuel. Surplus food that can’t be used by our charity partners to feed vulnerable people is now processed into animal feed to support British farmers or used to generate energy through anaerobic digestion,” says the company.

Sainsbury’s is already the UK’s largest retail user of anaerobic digestion, generating enough energy to power 2,500 homes each year. According to its website:

Industry partners Biffa and Sainsbury’s are today celebrating an innovative facility that will allow Sainsbury’s Cannock store to run on power generated solely from the supermarket’s own food waste.

Using Biffa’s advanced anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities and a unique power link up, Sainsbury’s Cannock store will be powered using electricity generated using food waste from Sainsbury’s stores across the UK.

This ground-breaking project helps to close the loop on food recycling and Sainsbury’s to continue to send zero operational waste to landfill.

An inexpensive and humorous ad helps customers see the light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MF8IqtSULFs

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