Anaerobic digestion at Premier Foods
InSource Energy has partnered with Premier Foods’ RF Brookes ready
meal facility at Rogerstone, South Wales to deliver on-site anaerobic digestion
facilities to treat the food waste from the manufacturing process.
The £5m facility is designed, built and operated by InSource Energy. The plant converts RF Brookes’ food waste
into energy to help power the factory, which is the leading supplier of ready
meals to Marks & Spencer. Built
within the site boundary, the plant has de-packaging equipment to handle
packaged waste and a pasteurisation plant, which is legal design requirement as
some waste streams contain meat products.
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Waste to energy |
The plant takes food waste, effluent treatment
sludge and uniquely, also contaminated plastic, as its feedstock. The organics and inorganics are seperated. The organic waste is treated via anaerobic
digestion processes to produce heat and electricity that powers the facility
and is sold at a fixed, discounted rate to the host. Premier Foods save in excess of £150,00 per annum in waste disposal, heating and fuel costs. |
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Recycling |
The plant recycles 1000 tonnes per annum of contaminated plastics, which otherwise would have had to be sent to landfill, decreasing the amount paid in landfill taxes. |
| Digestate – organic by-product | Approximately 4500 tonnes per annum of organic fertiliser by-product, which is PAS110 compliant, is created and of value to local arable farms as it displaces chemical fertilisers. |
This is all achieved without any capital investment by the host; this ground-breaking facility is owned and operated by InSource Energy, who bears the risk throughout the project process. This makes hosting an AD plant a viable, profitable and scalable option for a range of food and drink manufacturing businesses.
Facts and figures
The plant has the capacity to process up to 18,000 tonnes of unavoidable organic waste per year, generating 1.4 million m3 of biogas with a thermal calorific value of 8.4MWh.
The biogas consists of 60% methane
and 40% CO2 and is converted into electricity and heat via a
combined heat and power engine (CHP), which is subsequently used in the RF
Brookes manufacturing process.
The net energy output after parasitic load is 300kW or 1,800MWh of electricity,
and 400kW or 2,8000MWh of hot water, enough to displace 10% of the factory’s
load on fossil fuels.
What is being said about the project
RF Brookes Managing Director, Phil
Coles, said: “Premier Foods is committed to embedding sustainability throughout
our business operations. We’ve set a challenging target of sending zero waste
to landfill by 2015 and also to maximise opportunities for obtaining energy
from renewable sources. This initiative will help us on our road to achieving
both of these objectives and are delighted that our partnership with InSource
Energy has allowed us to be the first company in Wales to adopt this technology
in this way.”
The Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Environment, Sustainability and
Housing Jane Davidson said: “Anaerobic digestion is the most environmentally
sound way of dealing with our food waste, but as this project shows, it can
bring financial benefits too.”
Video produced by PR Media & Marketing Services compliments of Dolav UK
