Budget supermarket Aldi to give away surplus food on Christmas Eve
by
Declan EllisThe supermarket chain is aiding those less fortunate in local communities, as well as taking part in food waste reduction. They have claimed that any unsold fresh food still remaining at 4 pm on Christmas Eve will be distributed to local organisations and charities involved in giving food and other goods to those who may need it.Not only is this a fantastic cause to donate the food to, it also marks a step in the right direction when it comes to food waste recycling. Retail stores send approximately 6 million tons of food to landfill, an alarming figure that food waste reduction campaigns like this can help to reduce. With a large amount of Aldi stores based in the North East of England, this could be a real boon to increasing food waste recycling North East.The superstore ran a social media campaign to get word of the initiative out to the public and relevant organisations, which was very well received and has led to social media users calling for other supermarkets to match their idea. In a quote from the supermarket, they said that they expect the level of available food at each store to vary, but there should be around 20 to 30 crates at each store for food banks and groups who distribute this food to come and collect. They also stated that the initiative was designed to aid food waste reduction, which is a very important environmental issue. Regions across the UK will really benefit from this and future initiatives, for example food waste recycling North East will see an increase from retail stores implementing schemes like this.Food poverty has become an increasingly large problem within the UK, with the number of uses of food banks provided by the Trussell Trust increasing from 41,000 in 2010 to 1.2 million in 2017. Whilst this gesture by the discount superstore chain is nice, there have been some critics saying that this should be done year-round in order to help combat the rising issue of food poverty in the country, as well as improving food waste recycling rates.Whilst a lot of food banks and food-distributing charity groups receive non-perishable food items throughout the year, it can be rare for them to get fresh food items. Aldi have stated that groups can take as much or as little produce as they like or need to distribute to those less fortunate. The produce available will include goods such as meat, fish, fruit, bread, vegetables, baked goods, ready meals, chilled goods, dairy products and desserts.Whilst it is important to focus on the charitable side of this gesture, and how beneficial it will be for local communities and good causes, the environmental repercussions of this will also be large. The amount of food waste and packaging that goes to landfill increases over Christmas, so it’s a step in the right direction for food waste recycling. In the North East of England, there are some companies set up specifically to deal with the high amount of food waste produced throughout the year and convert it into power. Warrens Group founded the Food Fuel Initiative to make an impact on food waste recycling North East. They collect 50,000 tonnes of waste each year on average, which can then in turn be recycled into energy. Each tonne of energy recycled produces 300 kWh of energy, which can keep a fridge freezer running for a year, or run a television for 100 hours. With that in mind, imagine what the 15 million kWh that Warrens produce each year could be used for. The impact that this service has is undisputable.
Article Source:
eArticlesOnline.com