The US-owned chain said the store near Poole will become the first supermarket in the UK to send all of its waste for recycling, composting or re-use rather than to landfill.
” Using specially-designed composting units we're able to take all the waste food from the back of our store and turn it into good quality organic compost. “
– Simon Fern, ASDA
The store currently recycles about a fifth of the general waste it produces – mostly cardboard and plastic packaging – with the rest going to landfill.
ASDA said 65% of the general waste from its 313 stores could be composted each year – around 58,000 tonnes more material nationwide. The company already recovers or recycles around 140,000 tonnes of cardboard packaging and 5,500 tonnes of plastic packaging each year.
The Canford Heath store will lead the company's aim announced this summer for all its stores to reach a zero-waste-to-landfill goal by 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Partnership
A partnership has been agreed between ASDA, its waste management contractor Veolia Environmental Services and locally-based waste treatment firm New Earth Solutions to treat waste from the Dorset supermarket.
Simon Fern, environment manager at ASDA, explained: “By using specially-designed composting units we're able to take all the waste food from the back of our store and turn it into good quality organic compost. As a result, 150 tonnes of general waste will be diverted from local landfill each year.”
New Earth Solutions will treat ASDA's food waste at its mechanical biological treatment plant near Poole, which uses a combination of physical separation processes and composting to process mixed waste.
Peter Mills, New Earth Solutions contract director, said: “We've spent a number of years developing recycling technologies that divert waste out of landfill sites and convert it into compost. We're delighted to support ASDA's aim of re-using, recycling or composting all its store waste.”
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