Americans in 2017 threw away 41 million tons of food, with grocery stores representing a substantial portion of the country’s total waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Aside from the act itself, food waste is a problem because it’s responsible for approximately 6% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Our World in Data.
In 2015, Milwaukee-based Sendik’s Food Market set out to reduce its environmental footprint by installing Grind2Energy systems at 13 of its store locations and one support center.
The food recycling system, produced by Racine-based InSinkErator, converts organic waste – ranging from produce trimmings to animal fat – into renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertilizer. Food is grinded and stored in tanks at the stores before being transported to the Forest County Potawatomi Community Biodigester facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley, where it is converted.
Last year, the grocer’s Grind2Energy systems generated the amount of energy it would take to heat 420 homes for a month and eliminated carbon emissions equal to 3.5 million miles of car driving. It also produced 119 tons of fertilizer that was distributed to local farms.
“The biggest impact isn’t just what we’re turning around and turning into energy; it’s what we’re saving from going into landfills,” said Mark Kahl, executive vice president of operations at Sendik’s.
Before the grocer started using Grind2Energy, it composted its food scraps. Still, waste from one location alone filled eight 30-yard trash compactor trucks each month. After the Grind2Energy system was installed, monthly trash pickups were reduced to one compactor truck.
Over the past five years, trash pickup across the grocer’s entire store footprint has decreased by more than 80%, said Kahl.
From a financial standpoint, standard trash collection and the Grind2Energy system are both substantial expenses. However, for Sendik’s, sustainability was the priority.
“Our goal is to produce as little waste as possible,” Kahl said. “I think we’re very proud of trying to make sure we’re a responsible neighbor for communities we operate in.”
And it’s not just company leadership backing efforts to reduce food waste. Kahl said Sendik’s employees embrace the Grind2Energy system, too.
“Rather than associates looking at it as one more step to their workday, they really rallied around it,” said Kahl.
