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Case study: Rail company reduces food waste by 80%
Our customer, a national rail operator, owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure: 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels & viaducts and thousands of signals and level crossings. The company also manages some of the UK’s largest train stations.
It’s head office, in Milton Keynes, has a range of on-site restaurants catering for nearly 3,000 employees daily. The cumulative effect of such a high-volume catering operation is a large amount of food waste.
The company had to pay for 120 tonnes of food waste to be collected each year. Acknowledging this was inefficient, from both an environmental and financial perspective, they were determined to do something about it.
Turning food waste into energy
Working in partnership with Mitie’s waste management team, the Rail operator has installed a food waste digester at the site. It uses a unique blend of microbes to convert food waste into valuable biomass in just 12 hours.
Our customer’s staff have found the new process easier than the previous one, and since its installation, the digester has reduced the amount of food waste that needs to be collected by 80%. Equivalent to a massive 96 tonnes per year.
It effectively produces ‘free’ energy for the building and has helped reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Also, the number of food bins collected per week has reduced significantly, from 15 to 3, which has reduced the cost of food waste collection.
Get in touch to find out how Mitie can help you reduce food waste
Mitie is an expert in helping organisations, in the public and private sectors, reduce the amount of food waste they generate and send to landfill. We have both the experience and access to technology to create a more cost-effective and sustainable approach to food in your organisation.
Talk to our team today to find out more and discuss your specific waste reduction plans. Or take a closer look at our waste management services.
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