RECYCLING INVESTMENT BY SAINSBURY'S:SAINSBURY'S, THE British supermarket, will invest £9 million (about €10 million) in food recycling over the next two years in a bid to manage its food waste and cut disposal costs.

It has signed a joint venture with food recycling specialist Biogen-Greenfinch. Having piloted the initiative at one of the firm's existing recycling plants, the companies will begin operating a new site near Northampton next year.

Biogen will break down food waste using anaerobic digestion technology, widely regarded as the most sustainable way of recycling food waste to produce fertiliser and clean energy.

The supermarket currently sends 60,000 tons of food waste to landfill each year. It forecasts savings of £2 million (€2.2 million) a year by recycling its food waste in this way, and is also likely to earn revenue from payments for the power it generates on the UK national grid and by charging third parties to use its facilities.