Waste plant opens at Avonmouth sewage works
A food waste plant which will generate enough energy to power 3,000 homes has opened in Bristol.
The Wessex Water plant - based at a sewage works in Avonmouth - will treat 40,000 tonnes of waste from homes, supermarkets and businesses.
It will generate biogas through a treatment called anaerobic digestion treatment, which produces methane gas.
The energy produced also means the sewage works - the biggest in the South West - is self-sufficient for energy.
Wessex is also planning to build four wind turbines close to the plant.
"I think this is an absolutely fantastic innovation and it's exactly what we want to see," said Defra minister, and Liberal Democrat MP for Somerton and Frome, David Heath who opened the plant.
"We produce far too much food waste across the country - 15 million tonnes every year. That's a nonsense."