Food waste has always been something of a bugbear with Waitrose, an upscale British grocer that stopped shoveling its leftovers into the landfill as early as 2012. It even packages some of its fusilli pasta in boxes made, in part, from recycled food scraps, which it says reduces the use of virgin tree pulp by 15 percent while lowering greenhouse-gas emissions by a fifth. But Waitrose wants to take the issue further, both literally and figuratively. The supermarket just announced that it'll be running its delivery trucks entirely on biomethane gas generated from food waste—making it the first company in Europe to do so.
Food waste is a looming concern in the United Kingdom. At a time when 8.4 million U.K. families struggle to feed themselves daily, the volume of household food waste continues to soar, amounting to an estimated 7.3 million metric tons in 2015.
Waitrose, according to the Times, is partnering with CNG Fuels to juice up 10 of its trucks with 100 percent renewable biomethane. The trucks can run up to 500 miles—almost twice the current average—on what is essentially rotting food.
"We will be able to make deliveries to our stores without having to refuel away from base," Justin Laney of the John Lewis Partnership, which operates Waitrose, said in a statement on Thursday.
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Because its biomethane costs 40 percent less than diesel, any upgrades will pay for themselves in two to three years, CNG Fuels said.
"Renewable biomethane is far cheaper and cleaner than diesel, and, with a range of up to 500 miles, it is a game-changer for road transport operators," CNG Fuels CEO Philip Fjeld said.
Another plus? The alternative fuel emits 70 percent less carbon dioxide, which would give a much needed boost to the European Union's pledge to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 under the Paris Climate Agreement.
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