Tesco partners with animal feed facility to cut food waste
© Tim Scrivener Tesco has partnered with food waste recycling firm RenEco to repurpose the retailer’s surplus bakery and produce into animal feed.
The major supermarket chain hopes that it will help to drive circularity in the UK food system between farmers and retailers.
RenEco’s animal feed production facility in Northamptonshire will receive waste food from Tesco stores and its food manufacturing sites.
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The site can handle up to 1,000 tonnes of product a week and it is intended that feed produced at the site will be supplied to farmers supplying Tesco.
Christine Heffernan, chief sustainability officer at Tesco, said the site marked a step change in Tesco’s ambition to drive more circularity and sustainability in its food system.
She added: “It’s ability to handle surplus from our suppliers and other retailers makes it potentially transformational in how waste is handled in the UK and will be instrumental in helping Tesco to reduce its food waste.”
All food waste is analysed for safety and packaging is removed, the products are then mixed to produce a formulated feed to meet the end farms specifications.
Tom Osborne, food by-products operations manager at RenEco, added: “We are passionate about providing a product which is both nutritional and less carbon intensive than traditional feeds.”