Spirit Pub Company has been recognised for its waste management after being named winner at the AD & Biogas Industry Awards 2013.
Converting cooking oil and food waste into energy
The pub company, which operates around 800 managed pubs across the UK, has won the Innovation in Food Waste Collection for its successful partnership with Convert 2 Green (C2G) in removing used cooking oil and food waste from each depot and converting the waste into another usable energy source.
Spirit partnered with Kuehne + Nagel and Convert 2 Green, a leading waste to energy group, to develop a process where used oil collected from the food distribution depots is then returned to C2G’s biofuel production plant in Cheshire and, after treatment, sold as bio fuel.
2.5 million kilowatts generated
The food waste is taken to anaerobic digestion where gases produced are captured for use in electricity production. To date more than 2 million litres of biofuel and more than 2,500,000 kilo watts hours of electricity have been produced thanks to this process.
Spirit Pub Company’s Head of Logistics, Vance Fairman-Smith, said: “We are truly delighted to have been crowned the winners. We have worked really hard over the last year with C2G to implement efficient processes to improve our waste management and recycling.
“This award is the icing on the cake and testament to all the teams involved, including our pubs, who continue to work together to ensure we are leading the market with our innovations in sustainability.”