Sainsbury’s has announced that its Cannock store is to be run on power generated by food waste from its UK stores. It has partnered with Biffa to generate the new energy at the outlet.
The supermarket has used Biffa’s advanced anaerobic digestion facilities and a unique power link-up for the new power supply, and the project helps Sainsbury’s to continue to send zero operational waste to landfill, according to the supermarket.
Any food waste considered unsuitable for donations to charity or animal feed is sent to anaerobic digestion at Biffa, where it is then converted into energy. Sainsbury’s delivery vans are used to collect the remaining food waste from supermarkets around the UK and bring it to Biffa’s site in Cannock. It is then converted into bio-methane gas and used to generate electricity.
Electricity for the Cannock supermarket is directly supplied from the Biffa plant with the use of a 1.5km-long electricity cable. The innovation means that Sainsbury’s Cannock store will now come off the National Grid.
Sainsbury’s is the largest retail user of anaerobic digestion in the UK.
© 2014 European Supermarket Magazine
