AD plant undergoes final tests in Dorset

The 3.3 million AD facility at Piddlehinton has been developed by local organics recycling company Eco Sustainable Solutions and is due to be officially launched in September.

The plant has created two new jobs and will supply electricity and gas to retail company Mole Valley Farmers’ neighbouring Dorchester Feed Mill. The mill will also use solar energy, making it the first feed mill in the country to be powered completely by renewable energy.

The AD plant will take in up to 15,000 tonnes of organic waste, such as food waste, annually as well as up to 6,000 tonnes of pig slurry to create methane gas. There is also the potential to extend the facility, as Eco has planning permission to build a plant capable of treating up to 27,000 tonnes of waste a year.

Feedstock for the plant will come from Dorset county council, Viridor in Somerset and organics recycling company New Earth Solutions.

The AD plant is housed on a 2.5 acre site at Bourne Park Estate, Piddlehinton, previously used for pig units and was built by German company Weltec. Planning permission was granted 18 months ago and construction has taken around a year.

‘Win, win’

Trelawney Dampney, Eco’s managing director, described the AD plant as a ‘win, win’. The company has this week also just submitted a planning application for a larger, 40,000 tonne-per-annum capacity AD plant at its main site in Parley, around 25 miles from Piddlehinton.

He said: “We’re producing clean, green, renewable energy from food waste which would previously have been going to landfill as well as meeting the energy needs of Mole Valley Farmers’ Dorchester Feed Mills. It’s a ‘win win’ for everyone and we’re delighted that the plant will shortly be in full operation.”

Animal feed

David Pope, operations manager, Mole Valley Farmers, said: “Our Dorchester Feed Mill produces 85,000 tonnes of animal feed each year. Farmers will, therefore, be buying feed produced entirely using renewable energy.

“Mole Valley Farmers has long since recognised the opportunities that renewable energy production affords farmers, the rural economy and the environment and producing animal feed using renewable technology is central to our vision for the future of farming.

Eco Sustainable Solutions processes150,000 tonnes of organic waste a year. End products include turf, enriched topsoil, compost and woodchip. The company, which was founded in 1994 and is based in Parley, Dorset, employs 45 staff and has more than doubled annual turnover in the last five years to the current 8 million.