IN ASIN ASSOCIASOCIATION WITHTION WITH
AD 2010: POWERING THE WAY FORWARD
from landfill a year early. Needless to say, the
big four supermarkets have been striving to
outdo one another in a bid to become the
greenest. This has led to some confusion. ‘
Our priority
Sainsbury’s, for instance, claims to have
been the first retailer to commit, at scale, to
route away
send food waste to AD. The supermarket
has a target for all its stores and depots to
be connected to its ‘zero waste to landfill’
from landfill
programme by the end of the year. Beyond
that the target is to send as much of the
is AD
food waste [as possible] to AD – subject to
capacity in the UK.
’
“We recognise that other routes have their
place but aren’t necessarily the ‘best practical
environmental option’ available [which is why]
our priority route away from landfill is AD,”
explains a spokesman.
Waitrose – which, contrary to Sainsbury’s
claims, says it was “the first UK food retailer
to begin using AD in 2008” – is also very keen
on AD. Though the company admits it’s not
in its business interests to create any food
waste at all, there will, inevitably, be some
– and AD is where it is destined given that it is
“a sustainable way of eliminating the need for
landfill, while creating energy along the way”.
By May, half of all Waitrose stores will
be sending their waste to be converted into
energy. Long term, the aim is for all of them to
be doing so. However, MD Mark Price admits
that a lack of facilities is currently preventing
this from becoming a reality. “We’ve
experienced, first hand, the urgent need for
more plants,” he adds.
Waitrose says it is working on a solution to
this, but it’s currently “commercially sensitive”.
The supermarkets are all exploring various
options to meet their own targets and reduce
food waste. However, the industry is caught in
a Catch 22.
“There needs to be the capacity to
drive demand, but also demand to drive
the development of more facilities,” says
Severnside Recycling’s national commercial
manager, Tim Price.
“The retail sector is particularly keen to up
its use of AD, and some are already using
AD and CHP. But what’s needed now is more
localised solutions to reduce waste travelling
miles to be recycled,” continues Price.
The recession, needless to say, hasn’t
helped: project debt is generally not available
without strong sponsor support and/or
contractor guarantees and warranties. The
extra cash for WRAP’s organic capital grant
scheme will help, but will it be enough?
“We are seeing the first signs of projects
being proposed – Biffa with Sainsbury’s and
our plans for Mitcham, for instance – but we
still have a long way to go before AD is more
widely adopted,” says Sita UK’s director of
external affairs, Gev Eduljee, before adding:
“If the UK really wants to kick-start the market,
more capital grants will probably have to be
offered to the food and agricultural sectors
– along with good prices for the energy
generated.”
RWW
Recycling
& WASTE WORLD
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