Sainsbury’s has opened possibly the UK’s greenest supermarket, featuring a timber frame, wind turbines and customer toilets with a rainwater flush.

Sainsbury’s claims the Devon-based store will use 50 per cent less energy from the national grid and produce 40 per cent less carbon dioxide than a normal store.

The Dartmouth store boasts 38 energy-saving measures, including a biomass boiler to provide heating, light emitting diode (LED) lights and solar-powered fans - cutting its annual electricity bill by one third.

Sainsbury’s also planted 400 trees to compensate for the 200 used in the construction of the store and 90 per cent of the building waste was recycled.

Neil Sachdev, commercial director at Sainsbury’s, said the store was a “leader in sustainable construction”.

“We have been keen to experiment with a number of energy-saving measures here, from sun pipes, which provide amazing natural light, to using a timber frame rather than steel, which consumes less energy in its production, but looks good too,” he said.

Furthermore Sainsbury’s unveiled a greener delivery lorry, which is powered by the gas produced from rotting rubbish such as waste food, garden waste and newspapers dumped in landfill.

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