Food waste powering stores

Food stores logo" class="imageframe alignright" height="130" src="http://www.shropshirestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/mslogo.gif" width="175"/>Food waste from households in Shropshire is being used to power Marks & Spencer stores in a ground-breaking pilot scheme.

Renewable electricity is being provided through an anaerobic digester in Ludlow, which is taking household food waste and converting it into electricity.

M&S said it chose the county because Ludlow was a national pioneer of the anaerobic digester in a scheme run by South Shropshire District Council and Greenfinch.

M&S said the deal, which came into force on November 1, would supply it with enough energy to power two Simply Food stores.

If the scheme proves successful the company will look at expanding it to power other stores, said spokesman Olivia Ross.

"Initially we shall be using 5,000 tonnes of household waste collected from around South Shropshire but we shall also look at whether it is feasible to use some of the waste from our own stores as well," she said.

"We have been interested in using anaerobic digesters for some time as a means of providing renewable energy for our stores and reducing landfill and we chose Ludlow because it is a pioneer."

M&S is also looking to use another anaerobic digester, located on a farm on the Dorset/Somerset border, by Spring 2008. It will be fuelled by cow slurry and agricultural crops and power four Simply Food stores.

Today's news follows M&S's announcement yesterday that it is extending its carrier bag charging trial to 33 stores in the south west of England following a successful 16-week period of charging 5p for food bags in its Northern Ireland stores, which has seen a reduction in customer use of carrier bags by 66 per cent.

The measures form part of M&S's Plan A. Launched in January, it sets-out 100 eco-targets for the next five years, including aiming to become carbon neutral and send no waste to landfill.

Chief executive Stuart Rose said: "Plan A is driving change and innovation right across M&S.

"We are now the first major retailer to use food waste to power some of our stores."

By Neil Thomas