Visitors to an Ealing Sainsbury's were invited to get on their ‘smoothie bike’ to power a blender on Wednesday .

Recycle for London and the high street chain teamed up to hold the event at Melbourne Avenue Sainsbury’s with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of recycling household food waste.

The initiative was set up to encourage residents to recycle their household food waste. This arrives off the back of new data that shows that one year’s worth of Ealing’s domestic food waste could generate enough electricity to power a local primary school for up to 14 years.

Sainsbury’s head of sustainability for energy, engineering & environment Paul Crewe said: “By disposing of items in a food waste bin, you can help create green, renewable energy, so our towns will be running on rubbish.” 

In 2015 Sainsbury’s launched Waste less, Save more – a £10 million investment to help households save money by throwing away less food.

The event took part in five different boroughs including Brent, Camden, Hounslow and Merton to highlight how pedal power can drive a blender.

It forms part of an advertisement campaign to show how six recycled tea bags produce enough electricity to boil a kettle.

Campaign Manager at Recycle for London, Ali Moore said: “The importance of food waste recycling is something that is also being taught to local children across the borough in schools through initiatives such as those in Hobbayne Primary School in Ealing.”

Recycle for London has launched London-wide campaigns as well as localised activity, supporting councils and communities in their efforts to increase recycling and reduce waste.