The Market’s partnership with Bio collectors was a finalist at the prestigious 2023 Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management in the Retail, Commercial & Public Sector category. This recognition bore testament to a joint effort and commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Bio collectors makes daily collections of waste from the Market on a bulk trailer, which is transported on specialist CNG trucks powered by bio-gas produced by the food waste collected from customers, including NCGM. Between March 2022 and February this year, 4,543 tonnes of food waste from the Market was processed at Bio collectors’ Anaerobic Digestion facility in Mitcham – eight miles away – reducing congestion and pollution in central London by limiting the distance the waste had to travel.

The use of CNG vehicles has helped to significantly reduce Bio collectors’ carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels, making its collections one of the most sustainable and unique in the business. The bio-gas produced from recycling the food waste is fed directly to the National Grid and used by local homes and businesses, which also helps to reduce the UK’s reliance on less sustainable sources. It also creates electricity which is used to power the Bio Collectors plant and AD process, creating a prime example of the circular economy.

The process also produces a nutrient rich fertiliser, called Digestate, which is spread on local farms in Surrey. Between March ’22 and February ’23, 3,453t of digestate was spread on 284 acres of farmers’ land. By providing this to farmers, Bio Collectors helps to rejuvenate the soil and improve the quality of crops without the need for potentially damaging and environment-unfriendly, chemical alternatives.

Colin Corderoy, CGMA’s Operations Manager, said: “We have an excellent working relationship with Bio collectors. They are local, their HGVs run on biogas generated from waste from the Market and they are also able to use our waste to pump gas back into the network – all of these things are good for our sustainability credentials, which is very important to us.

“It is also a big win for our tenants, who benefit from minimised costs for the disposal of organic waste, which represents a large percentage of their waste cost. They are also able to illustrate to their customers that they are actively engaged with and improving their own ESG performance.”