The retailer has signed a power purchase agreement with Shanks Group who is currently processing some of the company’s food waste at its anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Cumbernauld, Glasgow, through a joint venture with Energen Biogas.

The deal will see M&S directly purchase approximately 19,000MWh per year of electricity from the facility – the equivalent energy used to power 33 M&S Simply Food stores.

M&S head of energy supply & risk Giacinto Patellaro said: “Having advocated the use of AD technology since the launch of Plan A back in 2007, we’re now seeing in practice how the plant at Cumbernauld is helping to maintain two of our targets – to procure 100% renewable electricity and send zero waste to landfill.”

According to Shanks’ MD Ian Goodfellow, the deal will “take full advantage” of the AD facility as it secures 100% of the generated renewable energy output.

Shanks is currently strengthening its market position in organics, where it has over 1m tonnes of treatment capacity across Europe.

In addition to opening the Cumbernauld AD plant in October 2011, the company is building a 48,000 tonnes per annum AD facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire and has submitted a planning application to Torfaen County Borough Council to build a 90,000 tonnes per annum plant at its South Wales site in Pontypool.

Maxine Perella

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