Fake alcohol seized in Derby used as energy source
Fake alcohol seized in Derby in the run-up to Christmas is being recycled and turned into an energy source.
More than 700 litres of whisky, vodka, gin and rum was recovered by trading standards officers across the city.
The bottles of spirits were found to be contaminated with industrial chemicals and unfit for human consumption.
The alcohol has been taken to a Severn Trent Water plant where it will be processed to generate methane and then turned into electricity.
Trading standards officers said the contaminated alcohol was too dangerous to to be poured into the sewage system and disposing of it had proved problematic.
Vicky Levine, customer operations manager for Derby, said: "We are going to put the alcohol in our digester plant. The digesters generate methane that is then turned into electricity that gets fed into the national grid."
Doug Walkman, trading standards team leader at Derby City Council, said: "It's great that we can now see these products used to benefit the environment and people, rather than harm them."