Friday 21st March 2014
On Wednesday Bertie decided to take a trip to Biogen to see what happens to the food waste we collect from our customers, after it leaves the Paper Round yard. Biogen run anaerobic digestion(AD) facilities, which is recognised by the government and Friend’s of the Earth as the best environmental option for treating food waste. So how does AD work?
Food is pre-treated and then turned into a ‘porridge’. From here it is pumped into temperature-controlled, sealed, vessels called digesters. Here, bacteria feed on the food waste, producing a biogas. This gas is made up of 60% methane and 40% carbon dioxide and is captured and processed as a fuel in their high-tech combined heat and power unit.
During this process, no methane is released into the atmosphere because all the vessels are completely sealed. Biofertiliser is also produced during the process; it is pasteurised to ensure pathogens are killed and stored in covered tanks, ready to be applied to farmland. The use of biofertiliser replaces standard fertiliser, which is traditionally manufactured using environmentally damaging chemicals.
For every tonne of food waste recycled using anaerobic digestion, between 0.5 and 1.0 tonnes of CO2 are prevented from entering the atmosphere. To find out how you can start recycling your food waste, visit our food recycling page.http://www.paper-round.co.uk/service/food-recycling
Don’t forget, you can still vote for us in the 2 degrees awards!
