Construction starts on AD plant

UK food waste recycler ReFood has started construction work on its new £32 million AD plant in Dagenham, Essex.

As part of a long term investment programme, the gas to grid (G2G) facility will create up to 60 new jobs in the local area.

Capable of recycling 160,000 tonnes of food waste each year, ReFood Dagenham will be able to generate more than 2,000 m3/hr of methane gas. Using G2G technology, this will be upgraded to reflect the qualities of natural gas – allowing it to be injected directly into the national gas grid and used to power more than 10,000 homes across the region.

The plant will be located at the London Sustainable Industries Park in Dagenham Dock and is expected to open in summer 2017.

Philip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood, comments, “Starting construction on our new site in Dagenham is truly a landmark achievement. In London and the surrounding areas, a significant volume of food waste is generated every year and ReFood Dagenham will play a crucial role in recycling this waste. Thus, helping businesses to lower their operational costs, become more sustainable and, most importantly, divert a highly valuable resource away from landfill.

“Our UK operations have grown by 250% since our first year of production in 2012 and we have ambitious plans to further build on this success.”

ReFood Dagenham will be the company’s third plant in the UK, adding to its existing AD sites in Doncaster and Widnes.