Local chippy takes on a ‘no waste to landfill’ stance to help fight climate change

The Elite Fish and Chip Company will now ensure all its waste is either reused, recycled, composted or converted intop energy.

Working in partnership with resource management group Veolia, the Elite has started segregating its rubbish into different bins including, more recently, one for food waste.

This is collected from the firm’s three restaurants and takeaways in Sleaford, Ruskington, and Lincoln, once a week and taken to Hemswell Biogas where it is converted into methane gas. The gas either goes into the National Grid or gets converted into electricity to power local homes and businesses.

Currently around three percent of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions comes just from the methane arising from the decomposition of biodegradable waste at landfill sites.

Angela O’Connor from Veolia explained: “Diverting food waste away from landfill is crucial to help combat climate change. Veolia can help the Elite and other businesses turn food waste into a valuable resource, by using anaerobic digestion to create green energy. A standard 240 litre waste bin, for example, can produce enough methane gas to fully charge three electric cars, a mobile phone for approximately 19,000 hours, and boil a kettle for 45 hours.

“The Elite is setting a great example which we hope others in the hospitality sector will follow. We’d like to congratulate them on implementing this change and their commitment to becoming a more responsible and sustainable business.”

Operations manager Nigel Tindall said: “As a business we’re always looking for ways to improve sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint.

“We initially trialled the new bins at our Sleaford restaurant and, although separating all our rubbish takes a bit more work, the rewards are worth all the effort.

“Not only have we been able to increase recycling and lower our CO2 emissions, but we’ve also saved money. However, we couldn’t have achieved this goal without the cooperation of our staff, and I’d like to personally thank them for doing their bit.”

As part of its ongoing commitment to the environment, the Elite ensure that it serves sustainably-sourced fish from North East Atlantic fishing grounds and is MSC certified – helping to safeguard the future of our oceans.

The firm recently won several awards including ‘Family Business of the Year’ for the second year running and the ‘Community Business of the Year’ award (area only) at the East Midlands FSB Awards, ‘Heart of the Community’ at the Lincolnshire Media Business Awards, and ‘Big Heart’ at the National Family Business Awards.

It has been serving fish and chips in Lincolnshire for 30 years.