New food recycling plant leads the way

The Deerdykes site, operated by Scottish Water Horizons, is the largest organics recycling facility in Scotland and offers food waste producers an alternative solution to landfill.

The new facility can recycle 30,000 tonnes of food waste a year, which can be converted into 8,000 megawatt hours of green energy each year, enough electricity to power up to 2,000 homes.

The plant also produces heat which could be used in district heating schemes for local homes and businesses.

It also creates nutrient rich digestate which can be used as a fertiliser to improve soil, reducing the need for chemical fertilizers, which have a significant environmental impact in the manufacturing process.

Chris Banks, Scottish Water’s Commercial Director and Chairman of Horizons, said: “This new plant shows we’re leading the way not just on renewable energy but in helping Scotland towards its ambition of zero waste.”

Scotland’s Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead praised the company for being a leader in organic recycling and renewable energy. He said: “As part of our Zero Waste Plan, we aim to recycle 70 per cent of all waste by 2025, with just five per cent landfilled.

As well as encouraging the reduction and recycling of waste, a zero waste society is about transforming it into a valuable resource.”

“This is a greatly impressive facility and I congratulate Horizons Environment for being at the forefront of organic recycling and renewable energy.”

The facility received a grant of £1.7 million from Zero Waste Scotland. Director Iain Gulland, said: “Anaerobic digestion has a huge role to play in creating a zero waste economy in Scotland, generating jobs and revenue from materials which we have always thought of as waste.

“Scotland’s Zero Waste Plan is clear that organic waste, from food and other sources, should be recycled back into useful products.”

Alison Brown