WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

This week, at in our Kitchen in Sittingbourne, we became the first British company to install a new end-to-end food waste recycling system. Now, that might not sound all that exciting, but let us explain why it’s so important to us…

Making everything by hand means that waste is kept to a minimum, but this fancy new unit means now all our food waste – from bones to peelings – is macerated into a think liquid (no chemicals, heat or water involved) and goes into a 24,000 litre storage tank. Then, every couple of weeks, the good people at Tamar Energy pick up the tank and recycle the waste by a clever biological process called ‘anaerobic digestion’, converting it into renewable energy (exported to the National Grid) and a really nutrient-rich biofertiliser (which means farmers can use less chemicals on their land). So it’s win win. Or rather win win win win win. No landfill, no waste.

“It’s important to COOK that the environmental impact is minimised and the waste will generate energy to power homes and businesses,” explains Richard Pike, our Technical and Sustainability Director. “It’s exciting to think that in the future the fertiliser produced by this process could be used on the land that grows our vegetables, supporting the circular economy.”