GRIMSBY'S Sainsbury's store has achieved its sustainability target – by donating leftover food to animals at the Jungle Zoo in Cleethorpes.
The supermarket, in Corporation Road, has diverted all of its waste away from landfill as part of its "20/20 Sustainability Plan", which includes giving away leftover fruits and vegetables to the animals in the zoo.
Jungle Zoo's manager, Sharon Gledhill, said the partnership has been running for about six years.
She said: "We get about six bin bags full of fruit and vegetables about three times a week.
"It helps to feed pretty much all of the animals at the zoo, from guinea pigs to reptiles to monkeys.
"It's a fantastic scheme, it's great for the animals. We get a lot of variety from Sainsbury's, and some of it is quite exotic.
"In November, we usually end up getting thousands of leftover pumpkins!"
Gavin Smith, the store's deputy manager, said: "As part of our 20/20 vision, all of our waste now goes to recycling or is put to positive use.
"We separate our leftover foods. Things like fruit and vegetables are sent to the Jungle Zoo.
"They collect it from us for free, and then they use it to feed the animals.
"Other foods, like bread, are often used for charity donations and are given away to places like the Salvation Army."
Sainsbury's other environmental measures include recycling all packaging, and sending damaged goods back to the depot rather than throwing them away.
Customers play their part by recycling batteries and plastic bags in store, and they are encouraged to use a "bag for life".
The store also donates excess food to help those in poverty through their long-running partnership with FareShare, a leading UK food redistribution charity.
Last October, Sainsbury's second annual "Million Meal Appeal" food drive saw 6,000 meals donated to local charities, including the YMCA in Grimsby, following food donations from customers over one weekend.
Overall, two million meals were donated in 900 Sainsbury's stores across the country.
As part of the store's sustainability scheme, any waste bakery products that are not suitable for donation to charity are processed into high energy biscuit meals for animal feed, which is fed to pigs and cows on farms across Britain.
After this, any remaining food waste is converted through "anaerobic digestion", an efficient form of renewable energy.
Across the UK, Sainsbury's generates enough energy to power 2,500 homes, and one of the store's depots is entirely powered by anaerobic digestion.
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