Grocery chain plans to divert up to 90 percent of waste from landfills.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC, Quincy, Massachusetts, has broken ground on the grocer’s first anaerobic digester (AD), which is being built at the company’s distribution center in Freetown, Massachusetts. The company says the anaerobic digester is part of its long-term goal to divert 90 percent of the waste it produces from going to landfills.
Stop & Shop says the digester will redirect unsold food from its stores to the distribution center, where the organic material will be converted into a biogas and used as a power source. The digester is expected to begin full operation by the first quarter of 2016.
“We are excited to begin the groundbreaking of this facility, as it’s a clear proof point of our commitment to reducing waste across our supply chain,” says Jihad Rizkallah vice president of responsible retailing for Ahold USA, Stop & Shop’s parent company. “Once operational, the anaerobic digester will create approximately 1.25 megawatts of clean, based load electricity, which would offset up to 40 percent of the Freetown facility’s energy use. This is just one of the ways we strive to be a better neighbor, and a responsible retailer in the communities we serve.”
Stop & Shop has more than 375 stores in New England, New York and New Jersey.
(photo: From left to right are: Vinod Israni, acting regional vice president Stop & Shop New England, Jihad Rizkallah, LEED AP, VP Responsible Retailing, Thomas Hippler executive vice president and general council Ahold USA, Roger Beliveau Manager of Distribution Services Stop & Shop New England Division, Kristina M. Stefanski, MPH, CFPM, Director of Quality Assurance, Stop & Shop New England Division and Glenn Hogan, regional vice president Stop & Shop New England Division.)