FDBusiness.com

Lord de Mauley, Defra Minister for Resource Management, will be speaking at the UK’s largest dedicated anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas trade show UK AD & Biogas 2013, 3-4 July, NEC Birmingham, on ‘Realising environmental benefits from managing food waste’ (2pm, 3 July, conference theatre).

UK AD & Biogas 2013 will demonstrate the potential for AD to support the food and drink industry to divert 5.76m tonnes of food waste from landfill (per year), saving £508m each year and the knock-on effects these savings could have to the bottom-line of these businesses.

With a host of content available for the food and drink and hospitality sectors at UK AD & Biogas 2013, ADBA has also now published a handy food and drink sectors’ guide** to the UK’s only AD and biogas trade show.

Commenting on Lord de Mauley’s attendance, Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive, ADBA said:
“Lord de Mauley has one of the most interesting remits in government, with waste reduction, sustainable use of resources and the transition to a circular economy rising up the political agenda.

These policy areas are already contributing a huge amount to the UK
economy, and offer significant potential for green growth, including through the expansion of the anaerobic digestion industry which has almost doubled in size in the last year.

“I look forward to hearing how Lord de Mauley’s view on AD’s role in sustainable waste treatment is evolving and his vision for reducing food waste to landfill.”

Alan Lovell, Chairman, Tamar Energy, headline sponsor of UK AD & Biogas 2013, said:
“Lord de Mauley’s visit to UK AD & Biogas 2013 is well-timed; he will witness an industry ready to meet the ambition for AD and find the reassurance needed that the food waste recycling infrastructure within the UK will, most certainly, be in place by the end of this decade.

Tamar Energy is committed to building a UK-wide network of AD plants to generate 100 MW of renewable electricity, divert food waste from landfill and provide valuable biofertiliser – showcasing the valuable contribution of AD to both the UK’s renewable energy and waste management strategies.”

Acknowledging the efforts of Defra, and its partners like WRAP, to stimulate the development of smaller-scale AD plants located on
food processing sites, seminar speaker Richard Gueterbock, Director, Clearfleau, commented:
“Defra’s support for initiatives to develop on-site AD plants on food processing sites – such as Nestle’s Fawdon site in Newcastle – as well as on-farm and community projects, has been appreciated. These are sectors where emerging British companies are taking the lead in developing innovative smaller-scale AD technologies.

However, it should be recognised that this growing market, and the jobs
that are being created, has been slower to develop than other sectors applying AD and is now being jeopardised by unwelcome changes to the FIT incentive regime.

Inequitable FIT ‘degression’ will undermine the development of this emerging market and it is important that DECC and Defra resolve this issue before it harms British companies.”