In mid-2010, Sobeys Ontario began testing the Tower Composter® units, a new organics waste processing technology, as part of its ongoing effort to increase the volume of waste diverted from landfill.

The Tower Composter®, currently being used at 20 stores, reduces the volume of organic material generated by the stores by 65% using a proprietary process that turns waxed cardboard and organic waste from stores (e.g. produce, bakery, dairy, seafood, grease interceptor material, chicken fat and meat/bones/fat) into an organic paste.

Waste is disposed on from inside the store through a chute connected to the Tower Composter® unit located outside of the building. Once the unit reaches its storage capacity, a vacuum truck will remove the organic paste, which may be used to make biofuel.

Other benefits of the Tower Composter® include:

• Reduced organic waste disposal costs, as a result of a fewer organics waste pick-ups. This also reduces travel emissions from waste haulage truck
• Increased backroom storage space by eliminating the use of large quantities of green bins to store organic waste
• Elimination of organic waste run-off, which can be costly to clean and create undesirable odours