Viridor to establish its first food-waste AD plant
23 May 2012
London – Viridor is developing a £10-million anaerobic digestion (AD) project, which will employ technology from Monsal to convert food waste into renewable energy.
The plant will be Viridor’s first food waste AD facility and will be located at its Walpole landfill site. The Somerset Waste Board agreed in September 2011 to develop the facility and the plant is expected to be operational by April 2013.
The facility will have the capacity to process up to 30,000 tonnes of food waste per year, 20,000 tonnes of which will be provided by the Somerset Waste Partnership, which includes all six of Somerset’s councils.
The remaining 10,000 tonnes of capacity will be used to process waste from restaurants, supermarkets, catering firms, pubs, shops and other businesses in the local area. The plant will also produce over one megawatt of power.
“Working with Somerset Waste Partnership we will process 20,000 tonnes of food waste collected from residents across the county. The remaining capacity will be filled from food waste we collect from local businesses,” said Patrick Murray, Viridor’s regional manager.
“The plant will also provide some excellent employment opportunities with 20 jobs during the construction phase and six full-time positions when the plant starts operating in April 2013.”
Viridor committed to build the AD facility as part of its long-term contract to manage Somerset’s waste, which began in 2006 and runs until 31 March 2022.
“Somerset residents are working hard with us maximise the weekly food collections and keep this valuable resource out of landfill,” commented Somerset Waste Board chairman Derek Yeomans.
“The next step, working with our partner Viridor, is to create clean, green renewable power right here in Somerset for the local grid,” said Yeomans. “The new AD facility will also save taxpayers around £1 million over the next five years.”
Technology provider Monsal has already constructed a number of plants in the UK for treatment of food waste based on its ‘advanced digestion’ system.
“Our track record in the UK [includes establishing] operational plants at Deerdykes and Westry and construction of two additional advanced facilities now underway,” said Aidan Cumiskey, MD of Monsal.
“We have worked hard to develop a solution and supply chain that can service this new market. In particular we are taking a lead position in the treatment of food waste.”
