Council signs new deal for food waste in the Warwick district

A new food waste contract has been signed – changing how household food waste is used in south Warwickshire.

Warwickshire County Council has announced a new, 12 to 18 month contract with Severn Trent Green Power for the treatment of food waste from homes in Stratford and Warwick district.

The food waste will be treated at Severn Trent Green Power’s Coleshill anaerobic digestion (AD) facility in Warwickshire.

Anaerobic digestion is a process through which specialist bacteria break down organic matter – such as food wastes – in the absence of oxygen and produce biogas.

The Coleshill facility can treat up to 50,000 tonnes of household and commercial food waste each year, which is enough to generate 2.4 megawatts of electricity.

The biogas produced from this process is either converted to electricity and exported to the national electricity grid or further treated and exported to the national gas grid, supplying homes and businesses with renewable energy.

In addition, the process also creates a nutrient-rich liquid bio-fertiliser which is used by UK farmers.

The forecast food waste tonnage for this contract means that residents will be powering the equivalent of 1,024 homes for a year with green energy, this is also the equivalent of 8,997 tonnes of carbon not emitted to the atmosphere compared to the same amount of food waste going into landfill.

Cllr Heather Timms, portfolio holder for environment, climate and culture said: “This new partnership with Severn Trent Green Energy is a further demonstration of this council’s commitment to doing everything it can to reduce its carbon impact on the rapidly changing climate.

"Not only does this provide a solution to increase the proportion of food waste collected for recycling from households in Stratford and Warwick, it also produces a large amount of totally renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertiliser for our farmers.”

Mark Barnfield, public sector lead at Seven Trent Green Power, said: “As one of the leading food waste recycling businesses in the UK we are delighted to have been awarded this contract with Warwickshire County Council to provide the residents of Warwickshire a sustainable recycling solution for their food waste.”

To find out more go to: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/waste-recycling