Sustain Britain

This article first appeared in our COP29 special 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 shot of the proposed Sustain green food super production centre and Super-Midden, Royal Wootton Bassett

Sustain Britain, a new movement focused on delivering greater localised sustainability across the UK, has launched a new approach to the delivery of self-sufficient communities at its inaugural conference, held in Royal Wootton Basset, Wiltshire.

The conference outlined how communities across the UK have an opportunity to break free from dependency on multinational companies for goods, products and services through the adoption of Sustain Circles, a new concept that challenges communities and businesses to grow, produce and manufacture as much as possible for their local community.

Turning the tide on globalisation

Globalisation has led to a flow of wealth from local communities to global financial centres. This has, in turn, led to the exploitation of resources and people around the world.

The aim at Sustain Britain is to reverse this trend by encouraging greater productivity and self-reliance domestically, enabling a more sustainable future for Britain and its communities.

The conference also looked at how Sustainable Anarchy is not only justifiable but necessary where inefficient bureaucracy and red tape hold back the advancement of sustainable projects that comply with regulations and benefit local communities, but are prevented from progress due to bureaucracy and archaic approval processes.

A local solution

Sustain Britain was created in a bid to keep wealth within the local economy, and create a blueprint that communities can adopt, adapt and implement for their own good.

Showcasing a series of ground-breaking initiatives, the conference focused on Sustain Wiltshire’s proposed solutions for Royal Wootton Bassett, Brinkworth, Purton and Malmesbury.

These include energy independence; sustainable, affordable eco-rental housing; affordable food, goods and services and sustainable employment for the local community.

Sustain Circles

Introducing Sustain Britain, Nick Ash of Sustain Wiltshire explained how his team has focused on creating a total local solution where self-sufficiency is the driver for all innovation.

This ‘Sustain Circle’ thought experiment is based on drawing a circle around a community and setting the goal of finding ways to produce everything that the community needs without necessitating any adverse lifestyle changes.

Nick acknowledged that in order for this approach to be successful, the hold of the multinationals would need to be broken; he outlined how the Sustain Wiltshire team investigated how it would be possible to produce better quality goods for less than they would cost from global brands.

Here, the Achilles heel of the multinationals was identified as the cost of transport, warehousing and logistics – areas where locally produced goods have the advantage. If this could be combined with low-cost power, businesses would be able to compete on a more even playing field with global giants.

From landfill to food production

After recognising that cost competitiveness was key to the success of Sustain Circles, Nick and his team at Crapper and Sons Landfill Ltd began looking at what they could do to make this possible.

This resulted in the creation of the ‘Sustain Super Midden’, an innovative new approach that turns landfill sites into energy and food production centres.

Here, landfill methane is used to power and heat positively pressured inflatable greenhouses located on landfill cells, so they can produce affordable fruit and vegetables for the local community all year round.

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

The Super-Midden taps methane from the landfill and uses the gas to safely power engines that generate electricity and heat, keeping the flexible greenhouses at a perfect growing temperature for horticulture throughout the year.

The Super-Midden also has the ability to provide power to local businesses for less money than it would cost from the grid.

Using CO2 produced as a by-product to aid photosynthesis, the growing environment within the Super-Midden greenhouses can be accelerated or slowed down to meet demand.

Combined with advanced modelling technology, this means that just-in-time demand-based fruit and vegetables can be grown and delivered to the doorstep.

This innovative solution minimises the need for storage and food miles, reducing overheads and allowing fruit and vegetables to be produced at a lower cost than can be achieved by major supermarkets.

Any waste food can be collected and processed for anaerobic digestion, enabling the generation of low-cost energy and fertiliser for use in the greenhouses to further perpetuate the sustainable, circular solution.

Once perfected, the technology – which will be trialled in the next 12 months – will enable Sustain Wiltshire to supply 80% of all fruit and vegetable requirements for Royal Wootton Basset, Malmesbury, Purton and Brinkworth.