Hounslow social enterprise to build AD facility

Social enterprise, Community Initiative Partnerships (CIP) Environmental, told letsrecycle.com it hopes to build a plant with two anaerobic digesters on the former site of the Western International Market in Hounslow.

Hounslow-based CIP will apply to the London Borough of Hounslow's planning department, next February, for permission to build the plant on two hectares of the market site. The local authority is expected to designate the remainder of the land as green belt.

If planning approval is granted, the company hopes the facility, which is expected to cost up to £18 million, will be operational by early 2010.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process which breaks down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. AD produces two by-products – biogas for energy production and a nutrient-rich compost product.

The site in West London is expected to create 18,000 tonnes of compost to be sold for use in the local area, as well as up to 17 million Kilowatt hours of electricity, each year.

Some of the electricity will be used to power the plant and around 14 million Kilowatt hours will be exported to the national grid.

CIP is also talking to utility companies to discuss the potential of using a proportion of the biogas as part of a local district heating system.

The plant will be designed to take 70% municipal waste and 30% commercial waste. The feedstock will be predominantly source segregated, organic waste from municipal waste collections.

The facility will also feature de-packaging technology to enable it to process foods still in their packaging which have been disposed of by commercial companies.

Input

Stephen Ferry, general manger of CIP said: “At the moment everything is subject to planning permission. The research we have done suggests there is significant interest, particularly from Hounslow council.”

Mr Ferry explained that Hounslow council is set to begin a source segregated food waste collection in September 2008 and that “the council believes it will collect up to 20,000 tonnes of food waste per annum in the next three years”.

The West London Waste Authority is made up of six London boroughs – Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames – and Mr Ferry estimated that around 120,000 tonnes of food waste could be collected from them

He said: “Our facility won't be able to address all the waste but it could absorb the majority of this. There is definitely a market opportunity there.”

Technology

CIP has yet to finalise its chosen technology and is expected to do so in the next couple of weeks, however Mr Ferry confirmed it would be a dry anaerobic digestion process involving a horizontal plug flow system.

CIP is assessing two European digester manufacturers. The first is Strabag – previously called Linde – whose equipment is used in Earthtech's AD plant in Stornoway and the second is Compogas which has 39 AD plants across Europe

Both companies have guaranteed that the compost from the AD process will be compliant with the PAS100 – the standard the material must reach to be marketed as a product.

Support

CIP has received financial support from the Enhance Capital Fund, which is delivered by the London Community Recycling Network and recycling market developer London Remade. The grant enabled the company to conduct market analysis and a compost review.

In September this year, London Remade's “leave no footprint” scheme provided the company with project management, communications and planning support.