Wiltshire-based Crapper and Sons Landfill Limited, and its Community Interest Company, is working on a development that it claims “has the potential to see landfill sites transformed into food production centres”.

Crapper and Sons Ltd said the climate-friendly initiative plans to use methane generated by its landfill site near Royal Wootton Bassett to power and heat its “world-first” positively pressured inflatable greenhouses. These could then be used to produce affordable fruit and vegetables for the local community year-round.

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, the Sustain ‘Super-Midden’ is designed to turn landfill sites into energy, heat, and food generation centres.

The greenhouses are reportedly engineered to flex with the movement of the sealed landfill cells, incorporating an airlock system to prevent contaminants, pests and disease from entering, enabling an organic approach to the production of fruit and vegetables on site.  

Tapping methane from the landfill, the Super-Midden will use the gas to power engines that generate electricity and heat. Crapper and Sons said this will be used to power and heat the flexible greenhouses and to “keep the growing environment at the perfect temperature for horticulture” throughout the year.

Using ultraviolet light, Crapper and Sons stated that ripening could be accelerated or slowed down to meet local demand. This would allow the growing season to be extended year-round, enabling multi-cropping and harvesting of everything from lettuce to avocados. 

The company highlighted that the development could enable fruit and vegetables to be produced at a lower cost than the major supermarkets and remove the need for ‘out of season’ produce to be shipped or flown in. It said this solution has the “potential to change food production” from being logistics led – requiring warehousing and distribution centres around the UK – to one of local, just-in-time production.

Looking further ahead, Crapper and Sons said that food waste would be collected to be recycled through the Sustain Super-Midden’s fast-gassing cells, generating “further low-cost energy”. The company reported that once “perfected”, it aims to be able to supply 80% of all fruit and vegetables required by Royal Wootton Basset, Malmesbury, Purton and Brinkworth.

Additionally, the Super-Midden will aim to provide power to local businesses connected to the site at a lower cost than from the Grid. Here the intention is to “pioneer a new concept in green industrial development through the construction of sustainable subterranean workspaces”.

Constructed using a dome structure over which a metre of soil is laid to create a grazing environment for farming, these structures will aim to provide a naturally super-insulated environment to lower energy and heating requirements, at the same time as reducing water run-off.

“Adopted nationwide, our Super-Midden solution could alleviate food shortages, provide cheap power to local communities and help to address the cost-of-living crisis.”

Commenting on the Super-Midden, Nick Ash, project director of Crapper and Sons Landfill Ltd, and Sustain Wiltshire, said: “Our goal is to transform the way landfill sites are utilised so that they become one of the most climate-friendly methods of waste treatment. 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.

“Importantly for us, the Super-Midden food 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.

“Adopted nationwide, our Super-Midden solution could alleviate food shortages, provide cheap power to local communities and help to address the cost-of-living crisis, all by generating affordable, freshly harvested, non-warehoused produce at a lower cost than the major supermarkets. 

“It’s all part of our wider Sustain Britain vision that aims to create sustainable working environments and communities of the future.”

To find out more about the Sustain Wiltshire Super-Midden and the Sustain Britain vision, visit www.sustainbritain.co.uk