12 February 2015

by Will Date

Waste treatment firm Shanks is close to increasing the capacity of its Cumbernauld anaerobic digestion facility by double.

The plant which is located between Glasgow and Falkirk is jointly owned by Shanks and its venture partner Paragon Efficiencies under the joint venture Energen Biogas.

The £5 million expansion is expected to be completed in April 2015, and will make the plant the largest AD facility in Scotland – capable of treating up to 100,000 tonnes of food waste each year.

Businesses in Scotland treating food waste have reported a surge in the tonnage of material available for processing since the introduction of the Waste (Scotland) Regulations in January 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Under the legislation, Scottish businesses are expected to take all reasonable steps to ensure separate collection of all dry recyclables, while those in urban areas producing over 50kg of food waste must also present it for collection.

Regulations

The next tranche of the legislation, which comes into effect from January 2016, will require food businesses producing over 5kg of food waste per week to present it for separate collection, as well as banning the use of macerators to discharge food waste into the public sewer and will also require councils to offer a food waste recycling service in non-rural areas.

The regulations will culminate in a ban on sending biodegradable waste to landfill by 2021.

Upgrades to the plant will see it capable of generating up to 4.8 MW of renewable electricity every hour. Approximately 1800m3 of biogas per hour will be utilised to produce the electricity, which is exported to the National Grid – enough to power around 12,000 homes each year.

Peter Eglinton, managing director of Shanks’ UK Municipal Division, said: “Organic waste is one of the most environmentally damaging forms of waste to be sent to landfill so I am delighted that our Cumbernauld AD facility is continuing to reduce this burden on the environment by doubling the amount of this waste which it is able to process.”

Robert Etherson, operations director at Energen Biogas added: “By expanding our facility we are able to significantly grow the renewables industry in Scotland and improve resource efficiency. Scotland’s vision where all waste is seen as a resource is one we are firmly aligned with and we are pleased we can contribute to making a Zero-Waste Scotland a reality.”