Cider Waste Blending Key to Bio-energy Tankering Contract Success
Lanes Group plc has won a three-year contract with fast-expanding beverage manufacturer Bevisol to take away drinks production effluent for anaerobic digestion. It is making daily tanker collections of 150 cubic metres of waste water created during cider production at the Bevisol plant in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Bevisol has an agreement with Severn Trent Water to send its production effluent to the water company’s anaerobic digestion plants.
Under an agreement with the utilities company, the main destination for the drinks effluent is Severn Trent Water’s new anaerobic digestion unit at Netheridge sewage treatment works near Gloucester.
However, Bevisol has developed a method for blending effluent so it has the right chemical and biological balance to be treated at Severn Trent Water’s other anaerobic digestion plants, if necessary.
Bevisol Projects Manager Tim Powell says: “Because we can guarantee that our effluent has the right pre-treatment balance for whichever plant it is going to, Severn Trent Water’s costs are minimised, so our disposal fees are reduced as well. Lanes Group’s tankering service is the third element in a supply chain that has benefits for all concerned, which is an ideal situation.”
Bevisol invited Lanes Group to take part in a competitive tendering exercise to transport the effluent because Lanes already provides a tankering service for Severn Trent Water, managed from its utilities hub in Stafford.
Lanes Group’s Severn Trent Water Contract Manager Roland Leslie says: “We are delighted to be supporting Bevisol in this way. We have a dedicated driver making up to five journeys a day in a 30,000 litre tanker to service Bevisol’s requirements. Our close working relationship with Severn Trent Water means we can provide Bevisol with all the support it needs to ensure their production effluent is managed effectively.”
Lanes Group expects to transport 40,000 cubic metres of cider effluent a year for Bevisol. The drinks company develops and manufactures a range of alcoholic drinks and related products for the beverage industry.
