Plans revealed for green food super production centre

A new development designed to have the potential to see landfill sites across the country transformed into low-cost energy and affordable fruit and vegetable super production centres is being proposed by a Wiltshire firm as part of a vision for its Royal Wootton Basset site.The climate friendly Sustain Initiative – which will be detailed as part of a public consultation due to take place in December – plans to use methane generated by its landfill site to power and heat positively pressured inflatable greenhouses.These will be used to produce affordable fruit and vegetables for the local community year-round, resulting in the creation of up to 130 jobs.Based on the concept of the ancient midden where waste, including animal dung, would be piled outside homes to break down, providing heat, material to burn and composted biomass, Crapper and Sons Landfill’s Super-Midden is designed to turn landfill sites into energy, heat, food, and fertiliser-generating centres.Under the proposed plans landfill methane will power engines to generate electricity and heat, which will be used to keep flexible greenhouses situated on the sealed landfill cells at a “perfect growing temperature for horticulture throughout the year”.These are engineered to flex with the movement of the landfill as it settles.CO2, produced as a by-product of the energy from gas process, will be fed directly into the greenhouses to enhance and control the growing environment.The aim is for the proposed greenhouses at the Brinkworth Road site to supply 80 per cent of all fruit and vegetable requirements for Wootton Basset, Malmesbury, Purton and Brinkworth, consuming up to 4,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.Richard Crapper, managing director of Crapper and Sons Landfill, said: “Over the years we have worked hard to support our local community. The Sustain Super-Midden plans for the site at Brinkworth Road are the next stage of that legacy.”Our goal is to transform the way landfill sites are utilised so that they become one of the most climate-friendly methods of waste disposal. This is made possible by repurposing and reusing landfill cells once they become full, adopting cutting edge technology to create affordable, just-in-time food, through a process that consumes more carbon than it produces.”The green food Super-Midden production centre will be owned and operated by a Community Interest Company, which will return profit to the local community in the form of grants for community projects.”