Tesco's clean energy supplier scheme criticised - 06/08/2009

Vegetarian homeowners looking to compare energy companies have criticised Tesco's attempts to build on its green credentials with an innovative plan.

The supermarket has announced it has been contributing to clean energy generation by sending 5,000 tonnes of expired meat to a biomass-to-energy plant in Widnes, which uses the material to generate enough electricity to cater for the needs of more than 600 homes, reports Click Green.

However, the announcement has been criticised by vegetarian group Viva, which accused the supermarket of massively over-ordering meat stocks.

Justin Kerswell, a campaign manager with Viva, told the website: "There are 90 million animals raised for their meat but not actually eaten - if retailers like Tesco didn't over-order in the first place, they wouldn't have to create these wicked schemes to get rid of the waste."

Tesco told the website that the out-of-date meat is less than one per cent of the supermarket's total wastage and that converting it into energy is greener than sending it to landfill.

Measures such as installing efficient LED lighting or erecting a wind turbine are increasingly being adopted by supermarkets looking to pursue cheaper business energy rates.

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