Waitrose, a UK supermarket conglomerate, has chosen five stores to take part in a pilot scheme for recycling food waste. The scheme will eventually go nation-wide but currently, a handful of stores will test the waters. Among those stores are branches located in Towcester and Northampton.
The process to recycle food waste is called Anaerobic Digestion. The food waste is heated until it produces a methane-rich bio-gas which can be turned into heat and electricity. Waitrose claims that the amount of electricity generated through the scheme will be put into the national grid and is estimated to supply enough energy to service over 500 homes.
The process also emits an odourless organic fertiliser useful for growing crops.
In an interview with the Northampton Chronicle, Simon Gartside, branch manager at the Kingsthorpe Waitrose, said: “Anaerobic digestion is an extremely environmentally friendly way of disposing of our food waste and we are delighted to be one of the first food shops in the country to trial using it.
“Operationally, it has been very easy for us to integrate this system into our branch as we simply separate food waste into two containers, depending on whether it is in packaging or not.
“Beyond this, the rest of the process is handled by our partner organisations Cawleys, who pick the waste up from the branch and unpack any food still in the packaging, and Biogen who then turn the waste into energy.”
Gartside also pointed out the added benefit of diverting the food waste from landfill.
For more information, go to: waitrose.com
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