The Process
converted for use as district/ industrial/commercial heating
converted for use as ci
heat
al heating district/
gas holder combined heat & power electricity
foodwaste
depackaging & pre-treatment
anaerobic digestion
d a
digestion storage
biofertiliser
biofertiliser
three times a week and we now have a one-stop solution for all packaged, naked and animal by-product food waste, both wet and dry.
Keeping our food waste out of landfill is helping towards reaching our target of diverting 95% of our operational waste from landfill very soon. Financially, this is also no more expensive than disposing of it with general waste.
As the trial was so successful we began rolling the solution out to all other Waitrose shops and completed that exercise in September 2012.
We now use a network of 15 UK anaerobic digestion plants from Glasgow down to Devon to minimise road miles from each shop. Each plant has effective de- packaging facilities (around 50% of unavoidable food waste is packaged) and uses the high nutrient ‘digestate’ output to feed secondary crops. 14 AD plants in our network convert the methane gas generated from the process into heat that is used to keep digestion tanks at the right temperature, and electrical power that is fed into the National Grid. One AD plant we use, Adnams brewery in Southwold in Suffolk, injects the gas into the mains gas grid. This is a much more efficient use of the gas but the technology remains complex and costly.
Cawleys Ltd have expanded their collection operation nationwide to link with each new AD plant, capable of processing commercial food waste, as and when they open.
In our John Lewis department stores, the ‘hospitality’ food waste is of a different type, as it comes from our catering operation. The waste from food preparation and plate scrapings tends to
be more dense, as it contains food like gravy and custard, and that makes it more difficult
to handle. Following trials of the Waitrose process in John Lewis shops at Peter Jones, Kingston and Norwich we began rolling out food waste recycling to all other JL sites and that process completes in January 2014.
To make all this work we place a strong emphasis on training Partners before rolling out any recycling system and our contractor visits each shop several weeks before it starts. We also publicise it with posters and letters to Partners in with their payslips. It’s important to engage Partners so they have ownership of the project and actively want to do the right thing. We have also written an internal best practice guidance document on recycling.
Food waste recycling is definitely the way forward. On the whole, retailing is a pretty ‘clean’ industry but as long as we are putting food waste into general waste it contaminates everything else. If we can get food waste out of ourrubbish, what we have left is no longer ‘general waste’ and much of it can then be recycled – which undoubtedly helped us achieve our target to recycle 75% of our operational waste by the end of 2012.
Our focus has now firmly shifted to stopping waste.Waitrose shop teams work hard to minimise the amount of unavoidable food waste generated.
We are now building a network of charities that are able to distribute food that is fit for consumption to avoid it becoming waste in the first place. But there will always be an element of waste due to damaged packaging etc, and anaerobic digestion is currently proving to be the most appropriate solution for us.
Mike Walters Manager Waste & Water Resource The John Lewis Partnership
Telephone: +44 (0)7894 491047 E-Mail:
mike_walters@johnlewis.co.uk
Jersey Gas are offering Vaillant ‘A’ energy rated condensing boilers installed from just £28 per month with 5 years Interest Free Credit.†
For more details call 755 577 or visit The Energy Centre, Tunnell Street.
www.jsygas.com 20/20 Habitat - The Environment Page 9
warranty
PLUS 5 years
†Subject to survey and status, based on Jersey Gas estimated installation cost, prices include GST.
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