Scottish Water has processed over 100,000 tonnes of food waste since 2010 at its Deerdykes Development Centre using anaerobic digestion to generate 15.5GWh of electricity in less than five years.
Since the purpose built recycling facility was opened in 2010 near Cumbernauld, food waste from councils, hotels and industry has been processed and converted into energy which is fed into the National Grid, producing enough electricity to power 2,000 homes a year.
The plant at Deerdykes Development Centre, operated by Scottish Water Horizons, a subsidiary of the public utility is centred around an anaerobic digester (AD) which generates bio-gas and uses this to generate electricity.
Andrew Macdonald, Head of Scottish Water Horizons, said:
"From left-overs to produce passed its use-by date, people living and working in Scotland are becoming more and more used to recycling food. The fact that food can then be transformed into clean, green energy at facilities such as Deerdykes is a great way of helping to build Scotland's low carbon economy.”
"It's all part of our wider efforts to maximise the value of Scotland's water resources and assets. In providing essential services to customers, Scottish Water is a significant user of energy, and in the last two years we've doubled the amount of renewable energy that can be generated at our treatment works and in our water mains to more than 50GWh.”
Several of Scottish Water’s treatment works can now generate all - and in some cases more - of the energy they need to operate via the use of technologies such as solar panels and hydro turbines.
According to Stephanie Clark, Policy Manager at Scottish Renewables, Scotland's AD sector is thriving, with recent figures showing there are 27 plants across the country, up 69% on a year ago.
Colin Lindsay, Operations Manager of Deerdykes Development Centre, said:
"Over the past few years we have seen a marked increase in the number of businesses realising the potential of food waste recycling. However, now that food waste segregation is becoming a legal requirement for smaller waste volumes, many more businesses are having to take arrangements to reduce the volume of waste they landfill - offer a viable, sustainable alternative.”
New legislation is being introduced in January requiring any businesses (except in rural areas) which produce 5kg or more of food waste per week to recycle food waste as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to landfill - helping to avoid the release of greenhouse gases.
Earlier this year the law changed and now all local authorities in Scotland are required to offer householders (except in rural areas) a food waste recycling service. Deerdykes, Scotland's first large scale facility dedicated to the recycling of food waste, is now well placed to meet this growing demand.
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