U.K. supermarkets sending food products including leftover sandwiches, used cooking oil to bioenergy plants in bid to reduce costs, fulfill sustainability initiatives

LOS ANGELES , June 21, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – U.K. supermarkets are increasingly sending food products including leftover sandwiches, chicken fat, and used cooking oil to bioenergy plants in a bid to reduce costs and fulfill sustainability initiatives, Bloomberg reported June 14.



Britain’s landfill tax, which is currently set at £64 (US$98) per ton, is set to rise to £72 in 2013.



Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG (Berenberg Bank) food retail analyst called the supermarkets’ decision to send their waste to facilities that convert it into bioenergy “a no-brainer,” particularly as energy and landfill use costs will only keep increasing.



Bloomberg noted that, according to British Retail Consortium environmental head Bob Gordon, sustainability initiatives literally save British retailers hundreds of millions of pounds annually.



Tesco Plc., which converts 2,000 tonnes of chicken fat and used cooking oil into bioenergy, estimates that its low-carbon and power-saving technologies result in annual energy savings of £200 million.



Marks & Spencer Plc. (M&S) currently ships 89% of its stores’ food waste to bioenergy facilities. During the past twelve-month period through April, this and other similar environmentally conscious activities yielded a total savings of more than £105 million, the company said.



M & S produces approximately 80,000 tons of waste annually, M & S head of waste Mandy Keepax added. In June, the retailer announced that it had met its five-year goal of becoming carbon neutral, Bloomberg reported.



Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda Stores Ltd. also sends its food waste to bioenery facilities.



J Sainsbury Plc.’s rotting vegetables and unsold meals provide power for roughly 2,500 homes, the company said. Sainsbury announced in February that it had invested in organic waste energy company Tamar Energy Limited, which intends to construct 40 plants that will convert waste into electricity within the next five years.



By 2020, the U.K. aims to produce 15% of its total energy via clean energy sources. Currently, three-point-three percent of Britain’s energy comes from clean energy sources. According to government forecasts, within eight years, bioenergy plants could potentially supply up to eight percent to 11% of the U.K.’s energy needs, Bloomberg noted.



The primary source of this article is Bloomberg, New York, New York, on June 14, 2012.