London residents are turning their food scraps into sauna fuel; the world's first community-powered sauna is being tested

A community project in east London is testing an unusual way of turning household food waste into energy. At R-Urban Poplar, an ecology hub on the Teviot Estate, food scraps collected from nearby residents are processed through a community-scale anaerobic digester to produce biogas. The gas can then be used to power a community sauna at the site. Project organisers describe it as the world’s first community-powered sauna of its kind, although the claim has not been independently established. The sauna remains in its testing phase, with full operation expected later in 2026. The experiment is part of a wider effort to create a local circular system linking food waste, energy production and urban food growing.London residents turn food scraps into sauna fuelThe system at R-Urban Poplar is designed to keep food waste within the local area rather than sending it elsewhere for treatment. Residents of the nearby Teviot Estate can participate in a pilot food-waste collection scheme, with the scraps taken to an anaerobic digester at the R-Urban site. Anaerobic digestion breaks down organic material without oxygen and produces biogas along with nutrient-rich digestate. The biogas can be used as an energy source, while the resulting material can support local food growing. Project partner MAD LEAP says the system is intended to produce bioenergy for uses including cooking, hot water and the community sauna.A former car park has become an ecology hubR-Urban Poplar is much more than a sauna project. Since 2017, the site has transformed a disused car park and vacant garages into a community space focused on food, ecology and circular systems. The site includes allotments for local families, communal food-growing areas, a community kitchen and classroom, a workshop and tool library, workspaces and a small commercial mushroom-growing operation. The site also has infrastructure for processing organic waste, allowing the project to connect food production with waste management and energy generation.How the food-waste system worksThe project is designed around a simple circular model. Food scraps collected from the surrounding community are sent to the anaerobic digester, where microorganisms break down the organic material and generate biogas. The gas can then be used as an energy source, while the remaining digestate can provide nutrients for local growing. This creates a system in which waste from the neighbourhood can become a resource for activities taking place in the same area. MAD LEAP says the pilot is designed to manage about 900kg of food waste a week when combined with existing composting infrastructure. That figure represents the project's intended capacity rather than a confirmed amount currently being processed each week.The project aims to keep resources localThe food-waste system is intended to reduce the need to transport organic waste away from the neighbourhood while returning nutrients and energy to local projects. MAD LEAP has said the scheme could initially manage around a quarter of the food waste generated by the 535-household Teviot Estate. If the pilot proves successful, the organisation hopes to expand the system and potentially handle a much larger share of the estate’s food waste. The approach is part of a broader experiment in local circular food systems, where food production, waste management and energy generation are connected rather than treated as separate activities.Sauna is still in the testing phaseThe community sauna is one of the most unusual elements of the project. Instead of relying entirely on conventional energy sources, it is designed to use biogas generated from locally collected food waste. The sauna was still being tested when the project was reported on in July 2026. Project organisers said they hoped to have it fully operational later in the year. The team has described the facility as the world's first community-powered sauna of its kind. However, this should be treated as a claim by the organisers rather than an independently verified world record.A wider experiment in sustainable livingR-Urban Poplar is intended as a practical testing ground for community-led approaches to environmental challenges. Alongside anaerobic digestion and food growing, the site hosts workshops, green-skills activities and community programmes. The project is also part of Just FACT, a five-year programme led by the Women’s Environmental Network that brings together 26 projects and people in Tower Hamlets to explore environmentally sustainable and socially just local food systems. The sauna is therefore only one part of the wider experiment. By turning food scraps into energy, the project is exploring whether waste generated by a neighbourhood can help power services and activities within that same community.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.