Co-op to recycle all waste from its UK food stores

The firm had pledged to send more than 34,000 tonnes of store food waste per annum for recycling, reuse or energy production by the end of the year, but has now reached that target five months ahead of schedule through its recycling scheme.

Working with waste management firm Biffa, the waste back-haul scheme has already been introduced at 1,500 Co-operative stores and is now being rolled out to all the firms remaining stores this summer.

The scheme, also known as Project Womble, involves waste being segregated at store level, before collection and delivery to Co-operative distribution depots. The retailer claims the scheme will also put an end to more than 225,000 skip collections from food stores every year and have its waste management costs.

According to the Co-operative, 64% of its 34,000 tonnes of annual food store waste is food and flowers, which will be sent for energy production through anaerobic digestion largely at Biffas Poplars AD plant in Staffordshire. A further 21% is general and customer waste and will be sent to a refuse derived fuel facility and energy recovery.

Meanwhile, dry mixed recycling such as empty milk bottles, tins, cans, office paper and till receipts which makes up 15% will be sent for sorting at materials recycling facilities. Cardboard and polythene at stores will continue to be baled and sent for recycling.

UK food waste charity FareShare is also working with the retailer to send surplus foods from distribution depots, such as oversupplies and products with damaged but intact packaging, to disadvantaged people in the community.

David Roberts, director of trading property at The Co-operative Food, said: The Co-operative has one of the largest and most complex networks of all food retailers in the UK and we therefore needed a robust, but commercially viable, strategy to meet our own tough targets.

However, after a lot of hard work we have created a unique initiative which brings all-round benefits to our stores across the country, and the local communities in which they serve, as well as the environment and the business. 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.

WRAP

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) also worked with The Co-operative in an advisory role during the trials for the waste back-hauling recycling scheme.

Marcus Gover, director of closed loop economy at WRAP, said: 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.

Last week (May 23) supermarket giant Tesco also announced plans to reduce food waste across the globe as one of its three major corporate responsibility goals (see letsrecycle.com story).