About us Menu Home About us Small things, Big Difference Current: Steven Fendley, Waste Management Steven Fendley, Waste Management Heading for an environmental goal. Recycling 100% of food waste and a 5% year-on-year reduction for all other wastes going to landfill is a pretty ambitious target for any big organisation. But the East of England Co-op is well on the way to achieving this environmental goal. “Five years ago, we started trials of recycling food waste to anaerobic digestion,” explains Building and Environmental Compliance Manager Steve Fendley. “It worked very well and today 100% of food waste collected from our stores is anaerobically digested. “When combined with our other recycling strategies this gives us an overall waste recycling figure of 78%. But it’s not good enough and we are committed to increasing it by 5% per year over the next three years. “We now work with the waste management company Olleco which specialises in resource recovery for the food industry. Through its anaerobic digestion processes all food waste collected from our stores is converted into biogas to produce electricity. The residue from this process is used as an organic fertiliser.” As well as the obvious waste separation for recycling at all Co-op locations, Steve and his environmental team also apply their creative approach to preventing waste. “Some short-dated stock, which we wouldn’t put out for sale as it’s approaching its best-before date, is donated to local charities including Emmaus, The Soup Kitchen and Dedham Community Farm. “This ensures that as much as possible is put to good use rather than going to waste. We are looking to extend this and it’s all part of our commitment to waste reduction, re-use and recycling.” Tell us your story We're collecting stories from members, customers, colleagues and the community about how we're doing small things that make a big difference. If you've got a story you'd like to share, please let us know using the form below. 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By Email By Phone By Post By Text reCAPTCHA: Small things that make a big difference We know it's not just one thing that we do, as your local Co-op that makes us different. We have just a few stories from our members, customers and suppliers that show how little things are making a big impact. Read more stories About us Annual Report and Accounts Co-op Loan Fund Board and Leadership Team International Women's Day 2021 Responsible business Small things, Big Difference Ann Osborn, Rural Coffee Caravan Blue Cross Rehoming Centre Colleagues supporting our community Co-op Guide to Dating Co-op Juniors Theatre Company Emma Tacon, The Tacons Farm Evelyn Rutter, Funeral Bereavement Support Gary Chase, Building Services Jack Brock Julie Preston, Member Lisa Lightly, Tiptree Travel Lorraine, one of our Sourced Locally demonstrators Michael Coe, Great Tilkey Honey Michael Davies, Funeral Repatriation Norwich Foodbank Rebecca Miles, Lane Farm Sam Fairs, Hillfarm Oils Santa's Suitcase Scott, our Anti-Social Behaviour Officer Simon Alders, Recovery Hub Ipswich Steven Fendley, Waste Management Susan Coulson, Chorus Iceni East of England Co-op Retirement Benefits Scheme Contact us East of England Co-op Wherstead Park, The Street, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP9 2BJ Main Switchboard: 01473 786000 For general enquiries: enquiries@eastofengland.coop For membership and dividend enquiries: membersupport@eastofengland.coop 0800 389 5354 For customer support : customersupport@eastofengland.coop 01473 786000 For community funding enquiries: Applications need to be made online here Follow us Instagram Twitter Facebook Youtube LinkedIn A member of Accessibility Contact us Copyright notice Legal notice Privacy Policy Site Map Terms & conditions 360 Degree IconAbout Iconicon/icon_americanexpressATM Machine.ahst0{fill:#4a4a4a}icon/icon_breadcrumbarrowicon/icon_busicon/icon_buttonarrowicon/icon_buttonarrowupicon/icon_callusnow icon/icon_callusnowred icon/icon_chapelofresticon/icon_closednow icon/icon_closednow icon/icon_collectplusicon/icon_contactUsicon/icon_crossicon/icon_currentlyopenShow Currently open storesicon/icon_customerserviceicon/icon_discovericon/icon_download.bast0{fill:#4a4a4a}icon/icon_ecofuneralicon/icon_editicon/icon_facebookicon/icon_fairfuneralicon/icon_familyfriendlyicon/icon_faqminusicon/icon_faqplusicon/icon_findbranchicon/icon_homeicon/icon_homedeliveryicon/icon_homepageconfig_1icon/icon_homepageconfig_1_1icon/icon_homepageconfig_1_2icon/icon_homepageconfig_2_1icon/icon_homepageconfig_2_2icon/icon_instagramicon/icon_joinusicon/icon_joinusicon/icon_locationicon/icon_lotteryicon/icon_magicon/icon_mastercardicon/icon_menuicon/icon_menuicon/icon_multifaithicon/icon_opennow icon/icon_paginationfirsticon/icon_paginationlasticon/icon_paginationnexticon/icon_paginationprevicon/icon_parkingicon/icon_parkingnearbyicon/icon_paypointicon/icon_pinShapeicon/icon_postofficeicon/icon_prepayment.cpst0{fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd}icon/icon_busicon/icon_subwayicon/icon_tabletmenuicon/icon_tickicon/icon_travelmoneyicon/icon_twittericon/icon_visaicon/icons_coopicon/icons_google+icon/icons_linkedinicon/icons_youtubelogo/logo_foodlogo/logo_funeraltext