Rubbish from McDonald's fast food restaurants will be used to power hospitals and theatres in a pilot scheme to begin today. Eleven fast food restaurants in Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley, South Yorkshire, will take part in an initiative to turn waste into electricity.
The energy produced will provide heating for 130 buildings in the area and save landfills from 100 tonnes of refuse per restaurant each year.
The restaurants will be the first in the UK to not send waste to landfill and the Carbon Trust is working with McDonald's to evaluate the projects.
The 11 restaurants will also trial a range of environmentally friendly technologies and processes, including solar panels, wind power, energy-efficient lighting and a recycling scheme for cardboard.
