New food waste disposal unit to open in May

Waste disposal facilities for food processors continue to multiply, with an anaerobic digestion facility at Deerdykes in Cumbernauld, Scotland, due to open in May and another depackaging plant in Beeleywood, Yorkshire, now operational.

The £7M Deerdykes site will start handling waste in May and producing heat and electricity in June, said Donald MacBrayne, business development manager at Scottish Water Horizons. The firm is building two more anaerobic digestors in Johnstone and Prestwick, which are likely to become operational in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Separately, Waste, Recycling & Destruction, a waste disposal brokerage that handles stock that is damaged, of inferior quality or past its sell-by date, has opened a depackaging plant in Beeley Wood. The Yorkshire facility, uses Atritor depackaging kit and can handle 20,000t of waste a year double the amount the firm was handling. "You can chuck in a can of baked beans and it will separate the food from the packaging," said director Tim Mullinar.

The Deerdykes digestor can handle 30,000t/year of 'category three' food waste. It will generate biogas and a liquid digestate, which will be used as liquid fertiliser in summer and turned to solid fertiliser in the winter.