The company behind the Fox’s Biscuits and Goodfella’s Pizza brands has put pen to paper with energy-from-waste company H2 Energy in a deal reportedly worth £50m, with the company’s CO2 emissions set to plummet by approximately 35,000 tonnes per year as a result of the rollout.

Bio-refineries break down food-waste into biomethane, which is burnt to generate electricity and heat and provides companies with a green and cost-effective way to dispose of site-waste and use it to power their businesses.

The initial phase of the project will see biorefineries installed at 2 Sisters factories in 10 locations over the next three years which, when complete, will produce up to 40,000MWh electricity and 70,000MWh thermal energy per year. The first bio-refinery will be set up at 2 Sisters’ Cavaghan & Gray site in Carlisle and produce 3,500MWh electricity and 5,000MWh processing steam per year, providing 20% of the site’s power needs.

Treatment at source

2 Sisters sustainability and environment director Andrew Edlin said: “This is absolutely cutting edge, not just for the food industry, but for the UK. Producing more than 100,000MWh energy on our sites fundamentally changes their energy profile, and results in carbon saving of more than 35,000 tonnes – around 10% of our non-transport footprint.”

The bio-refineries will be designed, manufactured, constructed and operated by energy-from-waste company H2 Energy at every 2 Sisters factory.

H2 Energy chief executive William Shotton said: “We are absolutely delighted with the partnership on embedded generation with 2 Sisters and the benefits of waste treatment at source, decreased vehicle movements and reduced carbon emissions to be achieved by this agreement.”

Last month, edie reported that fellow food manufacturer Moy Park – the UK’s largest producer of free-range chickens – had secured new investments to install 86 biomass boilers at its sites across England by the end of 2015.

Lois Vallely

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