An anaerobic digestion plant owned by Biffa will be providing the energy to a Sainsbury’s store in Cannock, Staffordshire.
Food waste from Biffa is returned from Sainsbury’s stores across the UK to its anaerobic digestion facility also in Cannock, and a unique link up allows Sainsbury’s to take the store off the National Grid for day-to-day energy consumption.
A 1.5km electricity cable has been set up between the Biffa plant and the Sainsbury’s store to provide the energy.
The food waste that is used in the plant is food that is unsuitable for charitable donations or animal feed.
Sainsbury’s head of sustainability Paul Crewe said: “We send absolutely no waste to landfill and are always looking for new ways to reuse and recycle. So we’re delighted to be the first business ever to make use of this linkup technology, allowing our Cannock store to be powered entirely by our food waste.”
