The Co-operative in drive to divert all food waste away from landfill
The Co-operative Group is to roll out a recycling scheme across its food store estate which will result in all of the retailer’s food waste being diverted away from landfill.
The group has already introduced the waste back-haul initiative in 1,500 stores and plans extend it to more than 2,800 stores this summer.
The scheme, which uses a combination of recycling and anaerobic digestion processes with minimal use of incineration, will divert more than 34,000 tonnes of food store waste away from landfill every year so that it can be re-cycled, re-used, turned into energy or sold on.
The back-haul system involves waste being segregated at store level, before collection and delivery by The Co-operative’s Logistics Service to its distribution depots. From there, the waste will be handled by waste management specialists Biffa.
Never Miss a Retail Update!The Co-operative said the scheme will knock thousands of miles off the distribution network. It will also end more than 225,000 skip collections from the food stores every year and halve The Co-operative’s food waste management costs.
David Roberts, director of trading property at Co-operative Food, said: “The waste back-haul project is a win-win solution. It will not only divert all our food store waste away from landfill, but will also convert it into a valuable resource, which we believe sets new standards in waste management.”
Marcus Gover, director of closed loop economy at WRAP, which has worked alongside The Co-operative in an advisory role during the trials for the waste back-hauling project, added: “The Co-operative Food has developed a solution that fits with the complexity of their portfolio, large number of sites and their locations across the UK. It will achieve diversion of waste from landfill through increased recycling and treatment of food waste by AD – all whilst reducing their waste management costs.
“We are supportive of this project and commend them on introducing this scheme across all their stores.”
