ADBA presents at summit on future waste policy

Rebecca Thompson, ADBA's Senior Policy Manager, presented the key role that AD plays in food and farm waste policy at a round-table discussion organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry's Energy Sustainability and Environment Division. The event brought together academics, industry experts, and representatives from government to discuss policy regarding future waste.

Thompson discussed the role of AD in decarbonising food waste and agriculture. While agriculture is a difficult sector to decarbonise, AD can convert farm waste into biogas, producing saleable energy, while eliminating the emissions from degrading waste. AD also produces nutrient-rich digestate that can be sold as a fertiliser, reducing emissions from the production of artificial fertilisers.

7–10mt of food waste streams could be diverted to AD as a result of England’s resource and waste strategy which positions AD as the “best environmental outcome for food waste,” said Thompson. Plant capacity will increase progressively as collection rates increase and there is a vast potential to increase gas and energy production, draw new investments, create new jobs and produce more nutrient-rich digestate.

You can read more detail about the event in this article published in The Chemical Engineer.