Biogen boosted by 22m funding from RBS

The money, said Biogen, is to support the continued expansion of the business.

The company designs, builds, owns and operates food waste anaerobic digestion (AD) plants to recycle food waste from the municipal waste stream as well as from food manufacturers, retailers and the hospitality sector to generate renewable energy.

Revolving and term loan facilities have been agreed with RBS and, together with the sums invested to date by Kier Group and the Bedfordia Group, will bring the amount put into Biogens developing plant network to 70m.

Biogen claimed that the new funding demonstrates the banks keen interest in sustainable development and validates the benefits of leveraging a longstanding relationship between Kier and RBS.

Strategy

Biogens chief executive, Richard Barker said: This is great news for BIOGEN and great news for AD in the UK. The additional funding provided by RBS allows us to continue our strategy of rolling out additional capacity across the UK. Each new AD plant we build will result in more food waste being diverted from landfill, more renewable energy being generated for communities and more jobs created for local people. Not only that, but more businesses and local councils will have better access to sustainable food waste treatment on a national scale.

In 2012, construction, property and services company Kier invested 24.4m in Biogen alongside founding parent company Bedfordias existing 24.4m investment, making Kier 50/50 joint venture partners with Bedfordia. Iona Capital, a waste-to-energy investment specialist, has committed 11m of investment into Biogens special purpose vehicles.

Design

Overall, Biogen employs 76 people and is responsible for the design, build, ownership and operation of 17 anaerobic digestion plants to date. It currently operates three food waste anaerobic digestion plants in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Gwynedd – together these process a combined total of 107,000 tonnes of food waste each year.

The company is currently in the construction stage on five food waste anaerobic digestion plants in Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, Edinburgh, Denbighshire and Rhondda Cynon Taf.