Sustainable Food Waste Solutions at New Covent Garden Market

Overview

New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms, London, is the largest fruit, vegetable and flower market in the United Kingdom. It covers a site of 35 acres and is home to 152 fruit, vegetable and flower wholesalers. The market provides ingredients to many of London’s restaurants, hotels, schools, prisons, hospitals and catering businesses.

Background

In January 2021, Bio Collectors were contracted to manage food waste collections from the New Covent Garden Market with the goal to provide a more sustainable solution for the process of transportation and recycling of the food waste.

Solution

We implemented daily collections of a bulk trailer, which is transported on specialist CNG trucks powered by the food waste collected from our customers, including NCGM.

The use of CNG vehicles powered by bio-gas has helped to significantly reduce the carbon footprint and the reliance on fossil fuels, making our collections one of the most sustainable and unique in the market.

The food waste is processed at our Anaerobic Digestion facility in Mitcham which is strategically located within 8 miles of the market, reducing congestion and pollution in central London by limiting the distance the waste has to travel.

The bio-gas produced from recycling the food waste is fed directly to the National Grid and used by local homes and businesses as well as powering our CNG vehicles, helping to reduce the U.K’s reliance on less sustainable sources. We also create electricity which is used to power the plant and AD process making for a perfect example of circular economy.

The process also produces a nutrient-rich fertiliser, called Digestate, which is spread on local farms in Surrey. By providing this to farmers, we are helping to rejuvenate the soil and improve the quality of their crops without the need for damaging and environmentally unfriendly chemical alternatives.