Biogen Breaks Ground on Food Waste to Biogas Plant in Wales

31 October 2012 Bedfordshire, UK based food waste to biogas specialist, BIOGEN has begun construction of its 11,000 tonne per year GwyriAD anaerobic digestion facility - its first in Wales. According to the company it will design, built and operate the anaerobic digestion (AD) plant on behalf of Gwynedd Council. The facility will process food waste collected from the county's homes by the Council and from businesses in the region to create renewable energy which will be fed into the national grid, as well as biofertiliser for local farmland. BIOGEN said that the plant, which is being built next to the former landfill site at Llwyn Isaf, will produce enough electricity to power around 700 homes annually and will play a major part in helping Gwynedd Council significantly reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. According to the developer the £5 million Llwyn Isaf plant - known as 'Prosiect GwyriAD' - is on schedule to be completed by the middle of 2013 and is expected to start generating electricity by the end of the summer. At the ground breaking ceremony the turf was cut by the Welsh Environment and Sustainable Development Minister, John Griffiths. "Prosiect GwyriAD will provide a long-term, sustainable solution for the treatment of food waste in Gwynedd - diverting 11,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill annually and generating enough renewable electricity to power a town of 700 homes similar to the size of Penygroes for a year," commented Griffiths. Gwynedd Council's Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Gareth Roberts added: "As well as processing more than 200 tonnes of food waste every week in a sustainable and responsible manner, the plant will also produce around 9000 tonnes of biofertiliser each year which will be used on local farmland and produce green electricity to be sold back to the national grid." The plant has been financed by Gwynedd Council, BIOGEN, Iona Capital and the Welsh Government. Read More VIDEO: Neste Oil Opens Europe's First Waste to Microbial Oil Pilot Plant Advanced renewable transport fuel specialist, Neste Oil has officially opened Europe's first pilot plant for producing microbial oil from waste and residues at its site in Porvoo, Finland. Blue Sphere Agreement for Two U.S. Biowaste to Biogas Projects Israel based organic waste to biogas specialist, implement two waste to energy projects - a 5.2 MW plant in North Carolina and a 3.2 MW plant in Rhode Island. Partnership with Cawleys Sees Waitrose Achieve Zero Food Waste to Landfill UK supermarket, Waitrose has achieved its aim of sending zero food waste to landfill, with all 280 of its UK branches to send food which is unfit for consumption for recycling into biogas and fertiliser at an AD facility. Free Magazine Subscription Free Email Newsletter