Work has started work on Wales's first commercial-scale anaerobic digestion plant at Premier Foods Plc's RF Brookes ready meals factory in Rogerstone, Newport.
InSource Energy's £5m facility will convert RF Brookes food waste into energy to help power the factory, which supplies ready meals to Marks & Spencer. Their Sustainable Development Manager said: "As part of Plan A, our eco and ethical programme, we're not only looking at our own waste, we're also working closely with our suppliers to tackle waste and environmental issues throughout our supply chain. The RF Brooks project is a great example of one of our suppliers taking action and investing for the future. We wish them every success with the project."
The plant will be able to process around 10,000 tonnes of food waste per year which is expected to generate 300 kW total energy – enough to supply roughly 250 households with electricity and hot water.
It wil mean significant savings in waste disposal and energy bills and a reduction of carbon emissions by around 8,500 tonnes per year.
WRAP Cymru has provided a grant of £0.5m to part-fund the project under a programme supported by the Welsh Assembly Government to promote anaerobic digestion in Wales.
Construction will be completed by the end of 2010 with the plant fully operational in early 2011. This is believed to be the first example in Wales of a factory being partially powered by its own waste in this way.
Minister for Environment Sustainability and Housing Jane Davidson said: "Wales is already ahead of the game in the way we deal with our food waste, with every local authority offering a separate food waste collection. But we must stop sending this sort of waste to landfill, which is why the work that's starting here today is so important.
"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. I am looking forward to following the progress of this pioneering facility, and wish all involved with it every success with their plans."
InSource Energy is a specialist developer of on-site waste-to-energy solutions for the food and drink processing sector, and is jointly owned and supported by Carbon Trust Enterprises (a commercial subsidiary of the Carbon Trust) and SSE Venture Capital Ltd (part of Scottish & Southern Energy Plc).
www.insource-energy.co.uk
Carbon Trust CEO, Tom Delay, said: "Our investment in InSource Energy forms part of our mission to encourage the growth of private sector solutions utilising organic waste as a sustainable energy source. We are of course delighted that this project has now entered construction and we look forward to many more projects in the future contributing to reducing carbon emissions."
