Farmers to Benefit from Fertiliser Produced by Anaerobic Digestion Plant 

Emerald Biogas (UK) - the North East’s first commercial food waste Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant - is encouraging the local farming community to utilise the nutrient rich digestate produced by the facility.

The company, based at Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate, will produce 50,000 tonnes of digestate annually and is keen to work with farmers within the Newton Aycliffe area to supply the product for use on their land.

The digestate contains useful quantities of Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potash, Magnesium and Sulphur amongst other organic materials and trace elements, all of which are essential for enhancing the soil condition and quality of agricultural land. It is created when organic biodegradable materials such as food waste are broken down during the AD process. As there is no oxygen in the process tanks, anaerobic bacteria feed on the organic waste, producing methane gas, and leaving minerals and in-organic materials such as indigestible fibres behind*.

There are considerable benefits to using the digestate as the many valuable organic materials and trace elements are not commonly found in traditional bagged fertilisers. The AD process converts organic Nitrogen to Ammonium Nitrate, which can be more easily absorbed by plants and crops, and the digestate is proven to infiltrate the soil more readily, due to low viscosity, reducing the leaching of Nitrogen into the atmosphere. Moreover there are fewer odours when compared to animal slurries.

Ian Bainbridge, Director, Emerald Biogas says: “Our facility is the first of its kind in the region and our vision is to ensure the valuable commodities created by the plant – the energy and digestate – are fully utilised locally. We are already contracted to supply a number of farms with the product and are looking for more local farmers, ideally those within a 15-mile radius of the plant to make contact to learn more about the benefits of using the digestate and how we can work with them.

“From a quality perspective, digestate derived from AD has been certified by the Soil Association for use in the treatment of organic crops. In terms of value our product is competitive when compared to similar traditional fertilisers, but has the advantage of additional organic compounds and materials which are of significant benefit to the land."

Formed in 2009, Emerald Biogas is owned by three partners with a wealth of experience in agriculture and recycling. Antony and Adam Warren are the owners of long established food and animal by products recycling business, John Warren ABP. Together with Ian Bainbridge’s diverse farming, land and resource management Agricore, they will provide the region with a beneficial sustainable resource.  

The £8m facility will recycle over 50,000 tonnes of food waste each year from across the North East generating 1.56MW of energy - enough to supply 2,000 homes - in addition to producing the digestate.