ABP acquires third anaerobic digestion facility
Beef processor ABP Food Group’s renewables division, Olleco, has announced the acquisition of an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility at Westcott Park, Buckinghamshire.
ABP Ellesmere. (Photo: Stonehouse Photographic)
The facility has capacity to process 96,000 tonnes of food waste each year and produce up to 3.2 Mw of green electricity and 4.8Mw of renewable heat enough to power 6,000 homes.
The company has purchased the site from Renewi plc, a waste-to-product business, for an undisclosed sum. Westcott Park will be Olleco’s third AD facility in addition to its sites at Aylesbury and Liverpool.
Robert Behan, managing director of Olleco, said: “Olleco is delighted to make this acquisition, which will provide added capacity and improve the service we provide to our 50,000 customers across the UK. The move will also complement our existing operations in nearby Aylesbury and in Liverpool.
“Today’s announcement is also a significant development from an ABP Food Group perspective as it further demonstrates the company’s renewable energy strategy and is another practical example of the circular carbon economy in action.”
Olleco collects waste food and cooking oil from the retail and foodservice sector and converts this waste into bio diesel, bio gas and bio fertiliser. The company employs over 600 people in 15 locations across the UK.
A sustainable future
In 2015 ABP also opened the world’s first certified carbon neutral abattoir in Ellesmere where waste material from the food processing operation is used in conjunction with used cooking oil to provide the energy requirements on site.
Last year, ABP achieved quadruple accreditation from The Carbon Trust in recognition to the work it was doing in reducing its environmental impact across the supply chain.
NFMFT on the hunt for top meat products
AIMS welcomes new Livestock Information Service
