Tamar Energy and Essex County Council have announced a deal that will see the anaerobic digestion (AD) operator help the council achieve its commitments to responsible waste management. The company will divert 54,000 tonnes of food and garden waste from landfill to its network of AD and composting plants, where it will produce a valuable biofertiliser and generate baseload green energy.
Essex County Council, the waste disposal authority working on behalf of 13 waste collection authorities, will supply three composting sites operated by Tamar Organics:
Ongar, Essex – 16,000 tonnes of clean green waste
Tempsford, Bedfordshire – 17,000 tonnes of mixed food and green waste
Parham, Suffolk – 10,000 tonnes of mixed food and green waste
Essex County Council will also provide food waste from Essex households for Tamar Energy’s fast growing AD network. Around 4,000 tonnes of food waste will go to Tamar Energy’s Basingstoke AD plant while construction is completed at its new plant in Halstead, Essex in mid 2014. An estimated 7,000 tonnes of food waste will be being processed at the Halstead plant by the second half of 2014.
Mat Stewart, Tamar Energy’s Head of Feedstock and Managing Director of its composting business, Tamar Organics said:
“This contract represents our first partnership with a local authority in England and it’s great to be working with Essex County Council. This once again demonstrates that AD is a genuine waste management option for local authorities that can provide tangible financial and environmental benefits.”
Cllr Roger Walters, Cabinet Member for Waste & Recycling, said:
“We are pleased to be working with Tamar Energy to ensure we keep our waste disposal costs in line with last year during a difficult economic climate of rising prices. This contract enables Essex County Council to continue its successful waste management programme and we look forward to working with Tamar Energy”.
Tamar Energy’s Basingstoke facility completed commissioning in December 2013 and is now exporting renewable energy to the national grid.
Tamar Organics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tamar Energy, manages and operates a number of in-vessel and open windrow composting sites across the South East of England and East Anglia, following the acquisition from Countrystyle in October 2012.
