Kroger converts food waste into clean energy

Source： Release Date：2013-05-16 303

Food & Beverage

One of the world's largest retailers, The Kroger Co, will utilise an anaerobic waste treatment technology to convert food discards into clean energy to power its distribution centre

LOS ANGELES , California, US – The new clean energy production system owned by The Kroger Co. will convert food that can't be sold or donated, into clean energy. Using anaerobic conversion, the Kroger Recovery System will process more than 55,000 tonnes of organic food waste into renewable energy annually to power the firm’s Ralphs/Food 4 Less Compton distribution centre which measures about 650,000 square feet.

An equivalent of 150 tonnes of food waste per day will go into the system, saving the company area truck trips by more than 500,000 miles each year. The system uses a sophisticated process to convert the carbon in organic material into a renewable source of methane.

“We are committed to finding solutions for food waste and clean energy, and we believe this is a meaningful step forward,” says Rodney McMullen , president and COO of The Kroger Co., one of the largest retailers, which operates Kroger, City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer , Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's, food processing plants, and supermarket fuel centres, and various conveniences stores and jewelry stores.

Anaerobic conversion

Anaerobic digestion transforms unsold organics and onsite food-processing effluent into renewable biogas, which is then converted into power for onsite operations. The process is carried out in an enclosed, oxygen-free environment, which means the process takes up less space and generates no odours. The system will provide enough renewable biogas to offset more than 20% of the energy demand of the Ralphs/Food 4 Less distribution centre. Combining the use of renewable energy power with more than 150 zero emission fuel cell fork lifts, the distribution centre is now one of the greenest and most efficient, advancing the City of Compton as a leading sustainable community.

The Kroger Recovery System is designed and operated by FEED Resource Recovery Inc., a clean technology company. FEED has designed and implemented a groundbreaking Zero Waste solutNike x Fragment Women