Wealthier parts of the earth lay waste to a lot of food for thought , at Brobdingnagian environmental and social toll . One approximation holds that40 % of America ’s food supplyis waste . However , the second largest supermarket string in the UK is salvage something from the wreckage ,
Sainsbury ’s has give up the practice session of sending food for thought waste product to landfill . alternatively , their food waste product will power pick out stores . “ It was the right-hand matter to do , but also it was the correct commercial-grade thing to do , " Paul Crewe , head of sustainability at Sainsbury’stold Fast Company . " frame food waste into landfill costs £ 150 per short ton , and the alternative of [ turning it into energy ] is significantly crummy . It ’s put that waste to rightful , positive use . "
Organic textile that ca n’t be used by foodbanks or for animal feed is rent to biogas plants , where methane make when it waste is burn for electrical energy . Until latterly that power was feed directly into the grid . The energy produced was equivalent to that used by three of Sainsbury ’s 1200 stores .
However , Sainsbury ’s happens to have a supermarket quite close to one of the power plants , so Crewe resolve to run a line verbatim from station to salt away . The move does n’t change the overall environmental benefit of using the waste in this fashion , but it does provide a powerful symbol of what is possible , running the supermarket purely on the energy produced from waste material . Crewe also see benefits for Saisnbury ’s in being less reliant on the internal gridiron .
Solar panels placedon the cap of its supermarketsare making an even bigger contribution to reducing Sainsbury ’s emission , take in the chain thelargest solar power generatorin Europe as of 2012 . Energy efficiency criterion have tailor consumption by 9 % over four twelvemonth , despite satisfying development in shop .
The efforts do not address the trouble of wastage after intellectual nourishment has been bought , which recentlydrew the attentionof the House of Lords . Food waste has also been exhibit to provide a likely source ofbiodegrable plastics . However , the most radical out of the box solution might come from the French chain Intermarché , who realized much of the waste came from fruits and vegetables people wo n’t buy because of their looking . Through a compounding ofdiscounting and humor , Intermaché’s“glorify the inglorious”campaign slashed the amount of waste food call for disposition .
