Home & Garden
‘The UK’s most sustainable neighbourhood’
Planning permission granted for sustainable neighbourhood that prioritises healthy diets and lifestyles.
4 March 2024
This article first appeared in our International Women’s Day 2026 issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Main image: Aerial image of the proposed Sustain green food super production centre and Super-Midden, Royal Wootton Bassett
This is shaping up to be an exciting year for Sustain Britain and Sustain Wiltshire.
Over the coming months we will see the world’s first landfill-gas powered growing dome produce year-round fruit and vegetables for 10 families in Wiltshire, and in the autumn we will see the return of the vibrant Sustain Britain Conference.
Back in 2025, the Conference launched the Greenprint for a Sustainable Independent Britain and the concept of the Sustain Circle. Delegates and their communities were challenged to produce as much as possible within their local community circle.
In theory, everything a circle needs should be produced locally; where that isn’t possible, the circle extends regionally, then nationally to access increasingly specialist products and services.
At the most basic level, the aim of the Sustain Circle is for a community to produce as much of its own food as possible, which would help to end our reliance on unnecessary and environmentally damaging out-of-season imports.
To make this proposition realistic, Sustain Wiltshire has been pioneering the development of cutting-edge, positively pressured growing domes that are located on landfill sites.
Using heat, power and CO2 generated from the conversion of landfill methane, perfect growing conditions can be achieved within the domes to produce fruit and vegetables all year round.
CO2 is pumped into the growing dome to aid photosynthesis while UV light stimulates growth. Heat creates temperatures perfect for growing and harvesting everything from lettuce to avocado – even in the depths of winter.
Photosynthesis transforms CO2 into clean oxygen, meaning that when operated at scale, landfill sites using this tech could become carbon negative.
The first of these 40mx20m domes will be trialled over the coming year to perfect techniques ranging from raised growing beds to hydroponics. The first crops are expected from spring.
Combined with Sustain Wiltshire’s wider ambition to turn landfills into Super-Middens, where plastics that are currently unrecyclable can be mined for future use as polymers, British technology is on the cusp of transforming landfill into one of the most climate-friendly methods of waste treatment.
With such exciting developments to showcase, this year’s Sustain Britain Conference is set to be bigger and better than ever – which is why we are planning to extend the event to two days.
The first day will be dedicated to sixth-form and university students; letters have already been sent to schools in the local Wiltshire area, but we hope that other sixth-formers and university students will join us, too.
We view this as an opportunity to introduce tomorrow’s guardians of the planet to the theory of Sustain Circles, to help students learn what it’s like to be a delegate and to experience talks from high-profile sustainability speakers.
Last year, we welcomed Sir Jonathon Porritt alongside the CEO of Forum for the Future, Hannah Pathak. 2026 promises another stellar lineup.
Combined with opportunities to get involved in discussions and practical sessions, the conference is a great way to learn more about how to realise a sustainable future for Britain. It also creates the perfect platform to showcase the many innovative and sustainable solutions being pioneered by Sustain Wiltshire, such as the Super-Midden project and the fast-gassing Solid Waste Anaerobic Treatment Cells (SWATC). These will produce gas from solid waste to power electricity-generating engines, providing low-cost energy.
With the promise of lively debate and discussion, Q&A panel sessions and interactive challenges, the conference will again question and probe what we need to do to create a truly sustainable Britain – one where money and jobs are kept in local economies through a commitment to producing and purchasing locally and in a sustainable way.
Our hope is that this will inspire and encourage students and delegates to think differently about the role of sustainability in the modern world, and in their own community. We look forward to seeing you there.
Planning permission granted for sustainable neighbourhood that prioritises healthy diets and lifestyles.
Cross-sector pioneers awarded at London ceremony bridging sustainability and consciousness.
Sustain Britain is creating a roadmap for a sustainable, independent Britain.
Sustain Britain to unveil ‘Greenprint for a Sustainable, Independent Britain’ at September conference.
