Kroger Adopts 2nd Waste-to-Energy System

Further fulfilling its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative, the Kroger Co. has replaced a conventional wastewater system at a plant in Indiana with an anaerobic digester, the second of its kind installed by the Cincinnati-based grocer.

First announced in late 2016, the new $9.5 million system will operate at Kroger’s K.B. Specialty Foods plant, in Greensburg, Ind., which has been a Zero Waste facility since 2014, diverting more than 90 percent of waste produced from landfills every year. The plant employs 270 associates and produces deli salads, cake icing and refrigerated side dishes.

"Kroger recently announced its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative, an exciting plan to end hunger in the communities we call home and eliminate waste in our company by 2025," said Erin Sharp, Kroger's group VP of manufacturing. "With 33 of our 36 plants already reaching the Zero Waste manufacturing goals we established several years ago, these facilities have pioneered the way for us to achieve our moonshoot vision."

The system features a dome that captures biogas from food byproducts at the plant and converts it into energy through anaerobic digestion while also improving air quality. Kroger installed its first anaerobic digester, which converts organic materials into renewable biogas, in 2013 at a Ralphs-Food 4 Less distribution center in Compton, Calif.

"One of the four drivers of our company's Restock Kroger plan is to Live Our Purpose through social impact," Sharp added. "Our associates remain committed to reducing our impact on the environment by using natural resources responsibly and minimizing waste throughout our operations to help us achieve our Zero Waste goals."