Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones officially opened the Prosiect GwyriAD plant at a recycling plant in Llwyn Isaf, near Caernarfon, bringing online the country’s first purpose built anaerobic digestion (AD) for generating power from food waste.
The £6m project which is expected to process 11,000 tonnes of food waste from the local area was backed by a £2.4m grant from the Welsh government. The project is also set to produce green energy and fertiliser in the process.
Built by AD developer Biogen, the project has been financed by Gwynedd Council, Biogen, Iona Capital and the Welsh Government.
Jones stated that the project emphasised the Welsh government’s commitment to tackling food waste throughout the country.
“Wales is the only country in the UK with a national programme to address household food waste, and we have provided leadership to local government and the market with our ambitions, as well as significant funding,” he said in a statement.
“Thanks to Prosiect GwyriAD, 11,000 tonnes of waste a year will avoid landfill, where it would generate greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, the plant has created jobs locally and generates 3,500 megawatt hours of renewable electricity for the national grid – enough to power every home in nearby Penygroes continually for a year.”
His comments were backed by Gwynedd Council’s cabinet member for environment, Councillor Gareth Robert, who expects the project to deliver various benefits to the area.
Robert went on to say:
“We are very proud that the GwyriAD plant is now fully operational – it is the first facility of its kind delivered by a Welsh Council and underlines Gwynedd’s commitment to finding new green ways of dealing with the county’s food waste,”.
“As well as processing more than 150 tonnes of household food waste every week in a sustainable and responsible manner, the GwyriAD plant will also produce natural biofertiliser to be used on local farmland and produce green electricity.”
Reference:
GPT Waste, the largest UK independent provider of waste management solutions and sustainable waste services. They continually demonstrate operational efficiency as well as financial savings via their innovative approach to waste management systems and routes to processes.
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