Lodge Farm, an organic farm in north Wales, is one of a rising number to use an anaerobic co-digester, a piece of equipment which generates renewable power from farm and food waste by breaking down biodegradable material to produce biogas.

In five years, the gas produced by the farm has generated more than 4.5m kWh of electricity for its on-site engineering works and almost 100 homes. On any given day, 150 kilowatt hours are provided to the national grid, with all of it being generated by cattle slurry, chicken litter that is unsuitable for use as animal feed, and waste from a local food factory.

110 tonnes of organic waste are produced in the UK each year, as well as approximately 10m tonnes of food waste, the majority of which still goes into landfill.

According to farmer, Richard Tomlinson: “Combining the two waste streams to produce heat, electricity and fertiliser closes the loop. It doesn’t make any sense for the slurry to move off the farms or for food to be landfilled. It makes more sense to bring food waste here and put it through the digester.”

At TrakRap, we’ve always advocated the reduction of unnecessary waste throughout the food and drink industry’s supply chain – from production to distribution and packaging - so we’re delighted to see the emergence of this new trend, and hope that it will make that process even more achievable.