Oxfordshire pumpkins to be converted into clean energy

Severn Trent Green Power expects to receive these used pumpkins at their 10 food waste anaerobic digestion facilities across the Midlands, Home Counties, South Wales, and the South West, including its Cassington plant, near Witney.

The Oxfordshire facility processes more than 50,000 tonnes of solid and liquid waste each year, generating 2.1 megawatts of electricity

The pumpkins will be transformed into approximately 77 megawatt hours of clean energy.

Severn Trent Green Power is also keen to raise awareness about the importance of recycling and its role in creating a circular economy.

It has released a video featuring Patch, a pumpkin, which follows his journey from seed to jack-o'-lantern, and finally to clean energy.

Andrew Simm, operations director at Severn Trent Green Power, said: "We hope viewers enjoy watching Patch the Pumpkin’s journey as his adventures unfold and he returns to life as renewable energy.

"Food waste is a fundamentally important energy source as the UK commits to generating 100 per cent clean power by 2030.

"We’d encourage everyone to recycle their unwanted pumpkins to prevent them from going to a less sustainable disposal fate."

A recent research report by WRAP revealed while most households trust their separated food waste does not end up in landfill, there is a lack of clarity around what actually happens to the collected food waste.

The video by Green Power aims to address this lack of knowledge.

Mr Simm continued: "We would always encourage everyone to follow the waste hierarchy and aim to reduce and reuse where they can.

"However, some food waste, like Halloween pumpkins in this case or potato peelings and chicken bones, are unavoidable.

"At Green Power, we take these and turn them into something good and useful through the anaerobic digestion process."

The anaerobic digestion process mimics that of a giant stomach, where food waste is broken down, and biogas is captured and turned into biomethane, resulting in clean, renewable energy for the grid.

The remaining digestate is pasteurised and filtered before being used as organic fertiliser on farmland.

With around half of local authorities currently offering food waste collection services, and more set to follow suit ahead of a government mandate in March 2026, food waste recycling in England is set to become the norm, Severn Trent Green Power said.

It is hopeful public awareness of the benefits of recycling food waste will continue to grow, paving the way for a greener future.