Urban chef drives his restaurant closer to zero waste

London-based chef Oliver Rowe, star of the BBC's The Urban Chef, has moved closer to achieving zero waste to landfill at his King's Cross restaurant by becoming the latest London restaurant to join Cawleys' Food Waste Recycling Round.

The system enables food waste to be converted via anaerobic digestion into electricity and organic fertiliser.

Oliver is using the food waste recycling at his restaurant Konstam at the Albert. The restaurant, a champion of local suppliers, sources over 85% of its food from within the area covered by the London Underground network.

By recycling kitchen and diners' food waste, Oliver has taken his commitment to using environmentally-sustainable systems one step further.

Food waste collected by Cawleys' specially-designed lorry is taken to BiogenGreenfinch's AD plant where de-packaging equipment separates any plastic, tin, card and paper from the waste before it is processed.

The food waste, including animal by-products, is then mixed with pig manure to form a substrate which is pasteurized and passed into a fermenter for anaerobic digestion.
Bacteria break the food waste down and the methane gas produced is converted into electricity for the National Grid.

Commenting on his decision to adopt food waste recycling Oliver said: "In restaurants the focus is often on the front end of the business; the fresh food that comes in, what it looks like and what it tastes like. We don't usually look at the other end of the business and what happens to the food waste that is generated in a restaurant. By tackling this important element, the food waste collection service helps environmentally conscious restaurateurs get closer to achieving zero landfill."

Words: Clare Riley

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