Grocery Chain Goes From Waste To Energy

The state of Massachusetts has recently provided the necessary licensing approvals to the Stop & Shop Supermarket grocery store chain so that it may move ahead with its proposed plan to convert excess food scraps and waste into energy.

The Department of Environmental Protection for Massachusetts released the required permits for the supermarket to start construction on a new Product Recovery Operation to be housed at the company’s primary distribution center located in the Cape Cod community of Freetown. The new operations plant will rely on anaerobic digestion methods to re-use unsold food as a source for electricity and heat for the building. In addition, a fertilizer byproduct will also be generated as an outcome of the process.

It is anticipated that the new operation facility will process close to one hundred tons per day of unsold food waste and be able to generate slightly over one megawatt of energy. This amount would satisfy forty percent of the distribution building’s electrical needs – resulting in a significant cost savings.

The facility will utilize all unsold food items from Stop & Shop grocery stores, including the deli, produce, bakery, and items that are past expiration or otherwise unfit or unsuitable for human consumption. The New England supermarket chain has an already established food to composting and food to animal feed program and this newest endeavor is seen as a way to continue to lower energy costs while converting waste materials into usable byproducts and electricity.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: You company’s food scraps and organic waste have many useful applications beyond your dumpster and the landfill! If you’re paying to dispose of large quantities of food waste it’s time to look into alternatives. You’ll be able to save green and go green at the same time!