Supermarket Sends All Food Waste to Anaerobic Digesters

02 November 2011

UK Supermarket chain, Sainsburys, has signed a three year contract with waste management company Biffa to dispose of all of its food waste at anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities across the country.

According to Biffa, currently none of Sainsburys' food waste is sent to landfill, but some of it does go to other waste to energy processes. This new deal will ensure all of it is sent for AD.

Some of the retailer's waste will be sent to Biffa's recently commissioned, 120,000 tonne per year capacity, 'super' AD facility in Staffordshire - the largest such facility in the UK.

Once running at full capacity, the company expects to produce enough energy to power up to 10,000 homes, as well as a soil improve that can be used in the same way as compost.

Sainsbury's says that it limits the amount of food waste it produces through good stock control and accurate sales forecasting, whilst any surplus food which isn't sold but is still fit for consumption, is sent to local charities and organisations such as FareShare. Food that cannot be consumed is collected by Biffa and processed to generate energy.

Neil Sachdev, Sainsbury's property director, said: "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. However, I am pleased to see that the waste industry is catching up with demand for this green technology.

John Casey, director of engineering and quality at Biffa, said: "Anaerobic digestion is a key means of dealing with food waste - it is taking food that could once only be sent to landfill and turning it into something of value.


Read More

Supersized Biowaste Treatment to ADmire
A new 'super' £24 million anaerobic digestion facility in the UK has the technology to overcome this and well as set the standard for large-scale infrastructure, explains Ben Messenger.

1 MW Food Waste Anaerobic Digestion Facility for Wales
The Welsh government's programme for local authorities to recycle food waste has awarded preferred bidder status to TEG Environmental and energy company Alkane Energy for its first AD plant.

An Aid to Digestion
A new technology enhances the ability of anaerobic digesters to convert waste-activated sludge into biogas, explains Filipe Figueira.