Food companies honoured at biogas awards

 

Biogas projects turning food waste into renewable energy and valuable biofertiliser were honoured at the first AD & Biogas Industry Awards ceremony, held in Birmingham, UK, earlier this month.

More than 400 industry leaders came together as AD innovation and excellence was honoured across 17 categories, covering the food manufacturing sector as well as others including hospitality, farming and wastewater.

Malted ingredients company Muntons was declared Best Food & Drink Industry AD Project, for its 499kW AD plant which turns liquid waste into renewable energy for use on-site and digestate for its network of local growers. The judges praised the project’s commercial logic and technical and operational implementation and were impressed by the fact that the AD plant has helped to cut 3,000 tanker movements per year and generates £650,000 per annum.

Clearfleau was highly commended in the same category for the Lake District Biogas plant, at First Milk’s Aspatria creamery. The plant converts cheese residues into renewable energy and removes 95% of chemical oxygen demand (COD), making First Milk’s cheese production more sustainable.

Food waste AD plant operator Agrivert won two awards – AD Team of the Year and Best Food Waste AD Plant. The company was commended for its best in class operational performance, which sets an example for others to follow. Agrivert currently operates three AD plants, which are the top performing food waste plants in the UK – each facility achieving over 96% efficiency over the past year, compared with an industry average of 71%.

SWR and Edinburgh Airport were honoured in the Best Food Waste Collection System category for demonstrating the key traits that innovative food waste collection systems will need to develop, in order to advance the UK’s national agenda.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Altaca Energy triumphed in two categories – Making the Most of Digestate and Best International Commercial Plant – for creating three separate fertiliser products from their digestate.

Praise was given to other international companies including Australia’s Richgro AD plant, which was highly commended in the Best International Commercial Plant category, as well as Denmark’s Xergi, which won Best International Agricultural Plant for its project that demonstrates the use of livestock litter to address Danish government restrictions on crop feedstocks.

 

AD & Biogas Industry Awards 2016 winners:

  • Innovation in sewage treatment through AD – Symbiona
  • Best food waste collection system – SWR & Edinburgh Airport
  • Best process optimisation – Pentair Haffmans
  • Making the most of digestate – Altaca Energy
  • Making the most of biogas – Edina Group with Guy & Wright Farm
  • AD hero of the year – Les Gornall, CAPITA PROjEN
  • AD team of the year – Agrivert
  • Best on-farm AD plant – Edina Group with Springvale Farm
  • Best food waste AD plant – Agrivert
  • Best food & drink industry AD project – Muntons
  • Best AD support (technical) – FM BioEnergy
  • Best AD support (legal/accounting/consulting) – Stephens Scown LLP
  • Research Project Award – WRAP
  • Best international agricultural plant – Xergi
  • Best international municipal plant – Host
  • Best international commercial plant – Altaca Energy
  • Best international micro-scale plant – Biogest.

Related content

Leave a reply

Food and Drink Technology