Shropshire business processing food waste

Shropshire Business Swancote Energy Ltd. http://www.swancoteenergy.com/ operate a state of the art Anaerobic Digestion plant on the outskirts of Bridgnorth. 

The 2.2MW plant produces enough renewable green energy for over 3,000 homes from a combination of food wastes and purpose grown energy crops, currently the annual processing capacity is 38,000 metric tonnes. 

Swancote Energy has a number of clients from across the West midlands region who send their waste here to avoid landfill charges and help reduce the environmental impact of waste management. The site contains the most up to date equipment available for processing food waste, which includes automated de-packaging machinery.  This gives them a crucial advantage when sourcing waste from retailers as they can accept it as it comes and then  separate the food waste from all types of packaging.

Their facility heats up the macerated waste to create a “soup” which bubbles away and creates a bio-gas (a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane) and digestate (a nitrogen rich fertiliser). A combined heat and power plant (generator) burns the biogas to create “green” electricity and heat. The electricity is fed directly into the national grid and the heat is used in the process.  The digestate is spread on nearby agricultural land to improve the soil. 

Anaerobic digestion is a process for dealing with organic waste which is sustainable, recovers the maximum energy and is a completely closed system with no emissions to air.  Income is generated through a combination of Feed in Tariffs and sales of electricity into the grid. In addition to this food waste attracts a gate fee as businesses will pay to get rid of it.

Owners Edward and Simon Davies said

“We could see that cost of power was only going to increase over the next 20 years. We realised that the payment tariffs available for AD would provide an alternative source of income for the farm as well as providing clean, renewable energy,”

The Green Cone

The Green Cone is a unique type of product which is available at discounted rates for residents in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin via www.shropshire.getcomposting.com

The green cone is unusual for us composters - in that it doesn't actually produce any compost!! So... if you want lots of nutrient rich solid material to dig into your garden as a soil improver this is not really the solution for you.... However we know from talking to thousands of Shropshire residents each year that oddly though this may be an attraction for some folk who are less into gardening and simply want somewhere to get rid of food waste without having to fill up their rubbish bin!

Thats why the green cone is not strictly (by those of us in the know) refered to as a composter at all - its a food waste digestor.  Its literally just somewhere to safely and securely allow your food waste to rot down.

And the good thing about the Green Cone is that its rodent proof - so you can use it to get rid of ALL types of food waste, meat, fish, dairy, left over take away curry, you name it, it can all go into a green cone - which is great if you're a major carnivore or if primary motivation is just to reduce waste to landfill.

The main way that the Green cone acheives this is by the 'basket' which you bury in your garden and this stops pesky critters tunnelling under the cone to get at your leftovers.  The cone then goes on top to provide an entry route and accelerate the breakdown of the food waste. So its odd for us composters because its dug in to the ground it does feels some what almost like having a mini landfill site in your back yard!

This is of course very diffferent from a landfill though or from simply burying food in your garden because its an aerobic process.  So in that way its like composting, the food waste you put in is exposed to air.  This is completely unlike a landfill site where waste is compacted and buried and becomes deprived of air and thus breaks down anaerobically.



As the diagram above shows quite neatly, the green cone utilises aerobic decomposition.  The solar energy creates convection currents within the cone which drive air flow and keep the material well oxygenated so it breaks down into harmless products which actually fertilises the surrounding soil. 

So if you want to help reduce food waste to landfill go to www.shropshire.getcomposting.com and check out the Green Cone, this could be a great solution to help reduce waste disposal in Shropshire.

Pro-Grow

Pro-Grow is a fine grade, peat free soil conditioner, made from green garden waste and food waste material generated by households across Veolias local authority contracts in the UK.  This unwanted waste put out by households and collected by Veolia on behalf of various local councils. 

They then take the waste material to large centralised commercial composting sites for screening and shredding.  The shredded material is then rotted down aerobically in huge piles which are turned regularly to keep them oxygenated.  The process creates a quality product that is rich in nutrients and essential trace elements, providing plants with an ideal growing medium.

This 'soil conditioner' has an open structure that will break down heavy clay soils and add humus to light sandy soils and help make your garden beautiful. It complies with the rigorous standards of the Soil Association’s certified product accreditation (Certificate Number I 4430) and is entirely natural, containing no added fertilisers.

 

Pro-grow is on sale in Shropshire at the Councils Household Recycling Centres (the 'tip') in:

 

- Bridgnorth

- Craven Arms

- Oswestry

- Shrewsbury

- Whitchurch

 

For more information on this product visit http://www.pro-grow.com

Shropshire volunteers encourage residents to 'give it a grow'

Volunteers from Shropshire Master Composters have been helping with a campaign run by Garden Organic that seeks to get people in Shropshire and the wider midlands region to have a go at growing their own food for the first time. The campaign, the One Pot Pledge, aims to help gardening newcomers to grow an edible crop by using simple steps and clear advice to encourage and enthuse them.

Today we've been out in Shrewsbury handing out peas complete with organic peat free compost and a simple recycled pot to encourage more people to 'give it a grow'.  Its all part of a Lottery funded project which aims to encourage healthier eating and growing and it links in nicely with our own efforts to get people to compost more of their waste. 

At todays stall in Shrewsbury volunteers helped by staff from the local council gave out over 50 pots with pea seeds in and spoke to dozens more about how they could compost and grow their own.  The idea is to address some of the barriers to growing veg, because many are put off because they think they don’t have space to garden, or because they don’t have the time or knowledge. By encouraging people to start small with just one pot, the One Pot Pledge campaign aims to combat this, promising to make growing easy and successful.

According to Garden Organic research less than one-third of the UK has grown their own fruit or vegetables. The charity says that if every one of those people encouraged just one person to also give it a go then there would be over 6 million new gardeners experiencing the joy of sowing, growing and eating their own produce.

To join the campaign, go to The One Pot Pledge website, www.onepotpledge.org, which features everything from Garden Organic’s suggested list of perfect pot produce, to guidance on what size pot a new grower will need.  There are also ideas on what makes a good pot, downloadable growing advice and tips on each plant, as well as discounts and offers on seeds, compost and containers.

Special offer for Compost Awareness Week 2014

As part of International Compost Awareness Week (5 to 11 May 2014), people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin are being urged to take advantage of a special offer from www.getcomposting.com is encouraging more residents to get composting with a special ‘share and save’ offer on home composting bins.

The ‘buy one get one half price’ offer on the already discounted compost bins means residents can team up with a family member, friend or neighbour to each get a compost bin for only £14.98 plus delivery, a saving of over 60% on the RRP of £39.

Once put to use, household organic waste can be recycled into fantastic peat free compost, that will not only improve the quality of home-grown fruit and vegetables but increase yield, providing an abundance of produce to share between family and friends. Home composting has the added benefit of producing a free supply of top quality compost.

During Compost Awareness Week 2014, volunteers will be promoting home composting at the following venues: -

• Tuesday 6 May – Shrewsbury, The Square from 10 am – 3 pm
• Wednesday 7 May – Oswestry, The Outdoor Market (Bailey Head) from 10am – 2pm
• Thursday 8 May – Ludlow, adjacent to the Outdoor Market in Castle Square from 10am – 2 pm
• Friday 9 May – Bridgnorth, adjacent to the market under the old market hall from 10am – 2 pm

There are a range of compost bins and accessories available to suit new recruits and seasoned gardeners.  For full details or to order visit www.getcomposting.com or call 0844 571 4444. The ‘buy one get one half price’ offer is available on selected products.