Manchester waste to energy plant could be bad news for food charity

#Energy Unless businesses are proactive, surplus food from New Smithfield Market will feed anaerobic digestion plant instead of those living in food poverty, FairShare says

It's 8am at New Smithfield Market in north Manchester, and as the city gears up for another day, traders at the North West's largest wholesale food market are starting to wind down. The trade customers have been and gone, leaving just a few members of the public to wander round the stalls, as traders begin to sweep up the flotsam and jetsam of another busy morning.

The market produces an estimated 370 tonnes of waste food or surplus product - a year, with much of this carted off to landfill at a cost of around £60 a tonne. The charge is covered in the rent stall holders pay to Manchester Markets, an off-shoot of the city council, but it's an expensive solution, and one which is doing little to help the city in its push to cut carbon emissions. This is one reason why planning permission has been given to build a new £9m energy-from-waste plant on the site, with work expected to start in the autumn.

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