Waitrose to turn surplus food waste into animal feed as part of new trial

Waitrose is to turn surplus food waste unfit for human consumption into animal feed, as part of a new trial to help the retailer reduce food waste.

During the six-month trial, store staff will segregate damaged or leftover food into colour-coded bags, depending on the product. The bags will then be backhauled to Waitrose depots, to be collected by food waste company Resource, which will turn it into animal feed or petfood.

Any food that has passed its expiry date will not be used, and any product unsuitable for animal feed will then go to anaerobic digestion to produce biofertiliser.

The trial has launched in 20 stores and will be expanded to 75 over the next few weeks. If deemed a success, it would be introduced permanently, Ben Thomas, Waitrose senior environment manager, told The Grocer.

“In addition to addressing the root causes of waste in our shops, we are trialling the backhaul of surplus food that cannot be consumed by humans to animal feed where it will go back into the human food chain,” he said.

The retailer already donates food waste to a network of charity partners, which will remain the “first option” for food that can still be eaten by people. However, there had been an increase of 33% in the amount of surplus food going into Waitrose store bins since 2020, Waitrose said.

To ensure that food is correctly sorted, store staff will be given hand scanners that will direct them to the correct coloured bag, based on the composition of the product, which will include bakery, fruit & veg, dairy/juice, meat and fish. Any packaging will be removed by hand and then processed to remove microplastics.

“If successful, we hope this will make a significant contribution towards our commitment to reducing food waste by 50% by 2023,” Thomas said.

Supermarkets have been under growing pressure to reduce the amount of food waste over the past few years, amid environmental concerns and rising living costs.

In August, Waitrose removed best before dates from 500 fresh products in a bid to help customers reduce food waste at home. Other supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, have introduced similar initiatives.