UK – Tesco, a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer, in partnership with RenEco, has launched a new facility in the East Midlands of England to reduce food waste by converting surplus food into animal feed. 

The facility, located in Northamptonshire, is designed to process up to 1,000 tons of surplus food per week, transforming items such as bakery goods and fresh produce into pulp or crumbs for animal consumption. 

Surplus meat and fish will be repurposed in pet food through a separate processing method.

Starting in November, Tesco will supply around 40% of the site’s capacity with its own surplus. Still, the facility has the potential to expand by accepting waste from other retailers and manufacturers. 

This project aligns with Tesco’s commitment to the WRAP food waste hierarchy, prioritising feeding humans before redirecting surplus food to animals.

Claire Lorains, Tesco’s group quality and sustainability director, has encouraged other businesses to use the facility to maximise its environmental impact. 

William Wykes, RenEco’s director, emphasised the project’s significance in reducing the carbon footprint associated with traditional feed ingredients, which tend to be more resource-intensive to produce.

Tesco has set ambitious goals regarding food waste reduction, including redistributing 85% of unsold, edible food to humans or animals by December 2025 and cutting its food waste by 50% relative to its 2016/17 baseline. 

Additionally, it aims to halve food waste within its supply chains by 2030 through collaboration with suppliers, food banks, and regional charities.

Beyond the UK, Tesco is implementing food waste reduction initiatives across its stores in Ireland and Central Europe. 

In Hungary, the company has been working with Grinsect to trial insect farming, where surplus food is fed to Black Soldier Flies, which are then processed into protein for animal feed. Tesco is exploring similar insect-based initiatives in the UK as part of its broader strategy to curb food waste.

The supermarket chain’s food waste efforts have been challenging. Earlier this year, Tesco terminated a partnership with a food waste processor after discovering that its food, intended for animal feed, was instead used for anaerobic digestion. 

While anaerobic digestion helps recover energy, it is considered a waste process under the WRAP hierarchy. As a result, Tesco excluded animal feed from its 2022/23 food waste reduction data, reporting an 18% reduction against its baseline, down from a previously reported 45%.

Global food waste remains a significant issue. The UNEP reports that 1.05 billion tons of food waste were generated in 2022, 60% of which occurred at the household level. Retail waste accounted for 12% of the total.

Meanwhile, Australian company Food Recycle has developed a process to convert commercial food waste into high-performance animal feed, diverting food waste from landfills. 

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