Using the technology of anaerobic digestion, the business will convert around 28,000 tonnes of waste each year into biogas. This will help power the factory with green energy and in turn provide significant environmental benefits to the local community. The anaerobic digester will be fully integrated into the existing factory site.
A major environmental benefit of the new project will be the reduction in lorry journeys from the factory site. Bernard Matthews and Glendale Power estimate that this investment will remove over 1,200 lorry journeys each year - that’s around 60% of the factory’s traffic associated with waste.
The £4m project will be fully funded through venture capital and will supply approximately 13% of the site’s electricity needs and 10% of its heat, with an overall reduction in carbon dioxide emissions estimated at 2,800 tonnes per annum (tpa).
Mr Rob Mears, UK MD of Bernard Matthews Ltd, commented “This is an important development for Bernard Matthews and the local community. It will not only reduce our carbon footprint and help create a sustainable, constant, environmentally-friendly source of power for the factory, but it will also provide significant environmental benefits to the local community and help strengthen our long term competitive position for the site.”
The project partners are now working to prepare a planning application for submission this year, with the aim of making the anaerobic digester fully operational by April 2013. On completion, the plant will be Glendale’s third such facility.
The anaerobic digester will be connected, by pipeline, to the existing onsite effluent treatment system, from which it will take approximately 28,000 tonnes of liquid waste each year. Using the technology of anaerobic digestion, the liquid waste will then be converted into a methane rich gas, which will be piped back into the factory to power an engine connected to a generator. Electricity produced will be fed into the factory power grid and heat recovered from the cooling system and exhaust will be used to heat water. Spent “fuel”, which will be largely water, will be returned to the onsite effluent treatment system for clean-up and discharge.
[Photo: Courtesy of Teddy Llovet]
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