After an ‘extensive development programme’ got underway in April 2014, the Doncaster facility’s capacity has doubled so that it can now process up to 160,000 tonnes of food waste from across Yorkshire and Humberside each year.
Using a combined heat and power (CHP) system, the facility can generate just under 5MWh of electricity each year, helping to power more than 12,000 homes in the region.
The £6 million expansion has seen two new 3,700 tonne-capacity digesters installed at the Ings Road site, as well as additional receiving and storage tanks and two 1.1MWh gas engines. The plant was first opened by local MP and former Labour leader Ed Miliband in 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Jobs
In addition, 30 new jobs have been created from the project across transport, sales, administration, operations and maintenance roles at ReFood Doncaster, which is owned by renewable energy and animal by-products business SARIA (formerly PDM Group), part of the German-owned Rethmann Group.
The completion of the expansion comes at a time of imbalance in the AD market, with reports last month that some operators competing fiercely for food waste feedstock due to an increasing availability of treatment capacity in the UK. As such, there have been reports of food waste gate fees falling below £20 per tonne – and in some cases even below £10 per tonne (see letsrecycle.com story).
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Part of a £91 million investment in its UK operations, ReFood also opened its first gas-to-grid AD plant last June in Widnes (see letsrecycle.com story), while it has plans to open a 160,000 tonne capacity food waste AD facility in Dagenham in the coming year.
Expansion
Speaking following the announcement yesterday (June 1), ReFood commercial director Philip Simpson said: “We’re delighted to announce the official completion of our expansion project at ReFood Doncaster. Huge local demand for an integrated food waste collection and recycling solution has fuelled this multi-million pound investment project – just three years after we initially opened the site!
“Businesses across the region are beginning to appreciate the financial benefits of diverting food waste away from landfill and we’re pleased that ReFood Doncaster can continue to deliver these benefits to an ever-growing number of customers. As well as being a more financially-viable waste management process, food waste recycling is hugely beneficial from an environmental perspective.”
He added: “Alongside generating renewable energy, even the resulting digestate (created during the AD process) can be repurposed. In the case of ReFood Doncaster, this is used by a network of local farmers as a PAS 110 certified fertiliser to aid the growth of crops. Known as ReGrow, the industry-first sustainable biofertiliser not only replaces the use of chemicals, but also completely closes the food chain – from field to fork and back again.”
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