Tesco plc (Tesco) is providing energy to clients in a latest venture recycling all meat waste into heat and electricity. The energy will be generated by the Prosper De Mulder Limited (PDM) and will be either sold to the national grid or used in PDM's plants. The biomass to energy plant not only diverts the waste from landfill but also generates renewable energy. The company has a strategy of diverting 95% of its waste from landfill by the end of 2009.
5,000 tonnes of out of date meat are generating enough to power more than 600 homes.
Tesco’s Head of Waste and Recycling Sion Stanfield said: “As renewable energy technologies now become mainstream, there is no excuse for sending waste to landfill that could actually be put to positive use. Working with PDM provides Tesco with a nationwide solution that operates across all our stores and allows us to fulfil our environmental objectives by maximising our resources to reduce our carbon footprint.”
Every week, PDM collects meat waste from Tesco’s 11 regional recycling service units, which is then recycled at one of five facilities in the UK.
PDM Commercial Director Philip Simpson said “Diverting waste from landfill has become a principal objective for leading retailers and generating renewable energy from a resource that used to end up in landfill is extremely positive. Increasing the UK’s renewable energy capacity is an important Government objective and the fact that out-of-date food can be used to power customers’ homes is a very powerful environmental message and one that is going to win hearts with an increasingly environmentally-conscious customer base.”