What is AD and why is it better than sending food waste to landfill or EfW?
Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is the sustainable process of recycling food waste. It is considered top of the waste hierarchy and is a complex biological process, transforming food waste into biogas, which in turn is used to generate renewable energy.
This biogas is captured and used as a fuel in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engines to generate electricity. Alternatively, biogas is cleaned up and sent to the national gas grid as biomethane.
The end product of the AD process is a nutrient-rich organic biofertiliser that replaces the use of fossil-fuel-derived synthetic fertilisers and ensures a complete loop of carbon and energy capture.
The biofertiliser produced undergoes pasteurisation to ensure that any pathogens are destroyed and is applied to farmland to support the growth of new crops.
Why recycle food waste?
Every year in the UK, around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste is produced, amounting to about £19 billion in value. Some of it is unusable, like peels, seeds, and bits of fruits and vegetables. However, a large portion is also food that has gone bad or is past its ‘best by’ date. According to WRAP, around 70% of this was intended for human consumption. Recycling food waste is shown to reduce the volume of avoidable food waste and ensure unavoidable food waste is managed sustainably.
Choosing your food waste recycling partner
BioteCH4 is one of the leading producers of green energy via anaerobic digestion from food waste in the UK. Across our six sites, we handle the collection, transportation and treatment of food waste, oils, and fats recycling. The work we do here and with our customers helps divert waste from landfill and overall helps the UK achieve its energy targets and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
We can provide a cost-effective solution for local authorities because we understand and deliver on all your food waste requirements.
How can local authorities manage food waste better?
Local authorities have the power today to change their waste collection plans including introducing a separate food waste collection. Separate collections are the best way to educate residents on how much food they are throwing away each week.
Local authorities should invest in a cross-sector collaboration where they exchange knowledge with food management and food waste management experts.
We currently work with several local authorities on successful food waste collection trials and are slowly introducing the process to a number of others.
The time is now!
Our best advice, is not to wait! Despite the uncertainty around separate food waste collections and their legislation, we’d recommend not waiting until Government cite the dates and rules around the collections.
If you’d like to understand more about what local authorities can do to reduce food waste then you can read more in our blog or contact our Group Public Sector Lead, Pamela pamela.woolcock@ch4mail.com to start a discussion about your journey.
Website - https://biotech4.co.uk/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/biotech4/
