| Energy
Surplus farm food waste could help generate
124 MWe this Christmas
No farming business deliberately creates unnecessary
waste. However, the volume of food waste created over
the festive period is typically 30 per cent higher than the
rest of the year. Finding a cost-effective, speedy and
green way of treating this additional waste can be a
headache for farmers at a busy time of year. Fortunately,
there is a solution.
naerobic digestion
(AD) is an
increasingly
popular food
waste treatment
option turning
farming waste into renewable
energy - biogas. The last seven
years have seen an
unprecedented growth in the
number of AD plants throughout
the UK, rising from less than 50 in
2009 to 381 today (excluding the
water sector)*. A fifth of these
plants (79) process food waste,
turning this valuable resource into
renewable energy and biofertiliser
(digestate). In December, it is
estimated that 230,000 tonnes of
additional food waste is generated
in the UK**. If this extra waste was
sent to AD, it would create 124
MWe of energy*** – enough to
A
power 220,000 homes throughout
December, or a city the size of
Southampton.
The price of food waste
While the priority for farming
businesses should always be food
waste prevention and
minimisation, the increased
complexity and uncertainty around
Christmas ordering and
production schedules means that
an increase in food waste at this
time of year is inevitable. Each
Christmas, two million turkeys, 11
million potatoes, 17 million
sprouts, 12 million carrots and 7.5
million mince pies are wasted, as
shopping habits change and
consumption rises. The cost of this
additional festive food waste to the
UK economy is an eye-watering
£64m per year*. But not only does
this increase in food waste impact
42 | Farming Monthly | November 2016
on farmers’ profit margins, there is
also an environmental price to pay
– leaving food waste to rot in
landfill causes the release of
methane into the atmosphere, a
gas with 25 times the global
warming potential of carbon
dioxide.
Sending food waste to an
anaerobic digestion plant (also
knows as an AD plant or biogas
plant) significantly lowers
greenhouse gas emissions
compared to landfill and
incineration. A naturally occurring
process of decomposition
whereby organic material
including crops, farm and food
waste is broken down, anaerobic
digestion is a waste treatment
option that is quickly becoming a
favourite of farmers and growers.
And it’s not solely down to the
associated ‘green halo’ that comes
from doing the right thing for the
environment; today’s modern AD
plants are also a flexible, costeffective and hassle-free way to
treat waste food.
No room at the (b)inn
As waste volumes increase
during the festive period, waste
hauliers’ capacity fills up fast.
Farming businesses can suddenly
find themselves faced with a
mountain of surplus Christmas
food waste that their usual waste
carrier is unable to take – or will
only treat for a vastly inflated fee.
No company wants its waste
hanging around for longer than is
absolutely necessary, and some
sites also have the additional issue
of waste permits, which may
prohibit them from keeping their
waste on site for any length of
time. Farmers and growers should
plan ahead for an alternative place
to send their additional Christmas
food waste and seek out their local
AD plant.
Headache gone – waste
collected within 24 hours
Last Christmas, farming
businesses based in London,
Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire
and Cambridgeshire sent
thousands of tonnes of mince
pies, sprouts and turkeys to
London-based AD plant