Retailers urged to support anaerobic digestion infrastructure

The global anaerobic digestion industry is set to reach $1trn
The global anaerobic digestion industry is set to reach $1trn

The move towards sustainable food retailing shows no sign of slowing down, with consumers more aware of environmental issues than ever before.

Research from public opinion research consultancy Globescan revealed that 92% of shoppers think food companies should focus their efforts on securing the future sustainability of food, with two-thirds believing that farmers should be paid more for their produce.

As more food retailers start to reap the benefits of marketing lower carbon products, they are now being urged to support the supply chain in developing new anaerobic digestion (AD) infrastructure.

“The vast majority of the UK’s 200 on-farm AD plants have been built with Feed-in Tariff support,” says Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA).

“With that incentive heavily reduced and constrained, we are now looking at how we build the next 200. As many retailers enjoy the ‘green halo’ that comes from marketing low carbon products, is it now time for incentive cuts to be compensated by the support of supermarkets and large food retailers?”

The Feed-in Tariffs scheme is a government scheme designed to encourage uptake of a range of small-scale renewable and low-carbon electricity generation technologies. Under FITs, farmers are paid for the electricity they generate. However, over the last year, the rural sector has criticised government actions against this scheme, calling it 'reduced' in support and 'constrained'.