It has also signed an agreement to take energy produced from an anaerobic digestion facility being set up on a farm in Somerset in the first half of 2008.
Ludlow-based Greenfinch will be paid for 1.3 Gigawatt hours of energy being generated for the National Grid – the equivalent of the energy needs of two M&S stores. This is part of a project called BioCycle, run in partnership with South Shropshire district council, taking in around 5,000 tonnes of household food waste each year.
The second agreement will see a farmer in North Somerset providing the retailer with 2.3GWhrs of power, from a plant treating mainly agricultural waste and cow slurry.
M&S spokeswoman Olivia Ross told letsrecycle.com yesterday that the company was hopeful of “many more” such agreements with anaerobic digestion facility operators to assemble a “mass scale green energy scheme”.
Process
Anaerobic digestion normally involves organic waste being liquidised and acted upon by bacteria, which generate a methane-rich biogas that can be used to generate electricity. The process also produces a nitrogen-rich fertiliser material that farmers can use on their fields.
A special protocol is being developed to help develop the use of this digestate fertiliser material (see letsrecycle.com story).
Marks and Spencer is hoping to encourage the development of further anaerobic digestion facilities by its agricultural suppliers, and has recently run three workshops to spread awareness of the opportunities of AD among farmers. It has also taken a group to Germany to see AD plants in action.
The M&S initiative – itself part of the great “Plan A” green marketing push from the retailer – centres on buying energy from AD plants, rather than operating or owning the plants itself.
Ms Ross said: “This is a great opportunity for us. The environmental benefits are clear – obviously you are minimising waste, both municipal waste and agricultural waste. It's also a good diversification for farmers in a year they have been really hit by foot and mouth and bluetongue.”
Greenfinch managing director, Michael Chesshire, said: “We have a five-year contract with M&S for them to take our electricity – it gives us certainty of pricing and we want to be associated with their initiatives – particularly plan A. I think it is a bold initiative – I think they really to mean it – it isn't just 'greenwash'.”
• Greenfinch has also joined the Campaign for Real Recycling, the group lobbying for more source-separated household recycling collections. Mr Chesshire said the campaign “fits very much with our operational principles”. He explained: “We need kitchen waste uncontaminated by other materials just as much as the reprocessors of dry recyclables need feedstock uncontaminated by food.”
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