Bore Hill Farm Biodigester has become the first English anaerobic digestion (AD) plant to be certified under a new certification scheme that recognises good operational, environmental, and health and safety performance at UK AD plants.
The plant, based in Warminster in Wiltshire and run by Malaby Biogas, processes inedible food waste to create biofertiliser and renewable heat and power. It generates enough green electricity to power 2,500 houses.
The plant has been certified under the Anaerobic Digestion Certification Scheme (ADCS), an industry-led initiative designed to raise standards and recognise good practice in the running of AD plants. The scheme provides an independent audit process and report that help operators to ensure they are meeting required standards and identify areas for improvement.
The ADCS has been developed in collaboration with a range of industry stakeholders including regulators, insurers, investors, and operators, and is managed by the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), the UK’s trade body for AD.
“ADBA will continue to speak to AD operators about the many benefits of the ADCS both for operators themselves and for the wider industry, including increased support from politicians, regulators, insurers, and investors.”
Bore Hill Farm becomes the second UK plant to be certified under the scheme following the certification of Granville EcoPark in Northern Ireland earlier this year.
Thomas Minter, Director of Malaby Biogas, who run Bore Hill Farm, said: “I am very proud of the work our staff have put in to enable us to achieve certification so smoothly. It is a testament to the management systems we have developed, the innovations and optimisations on site and everyone’s professionalism that have allowed us to take a leading position in this new scheme.
“Seeing regulators and insurers so actively involved in the development of the ADCS has been encouraging and now we have the basis for them to help in supporting and promoting the scheme across the industry. This is a milestone we are proud of.”
Nick Johnn, Director at Aardvark Certification Limited, the ADCS’s official certification body, said: “Mr Minter and the team at Malaby Biogas provide a great example of the high standards which can be achieved within the AD sector, from design and construction of a good AD plant through to operational practices which minimise health-and-safety and environmental risks.
“We are delighted to be able to issue certification to the ADCS to Malaby Biogas in recognition of the efforts they have put into ensuring their operations meet the high standards set by the scheme criteria. We are pleased that they have been able to realise the benefits available to AD operators in the UK through achieving certification to the ADCS.”
Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of ADBA, said: “We’re delighted to see the Bore Hill Farm Biodigester become the first English plant and the second in the UK to be certified under the ADCS, which is a vital scheme for making the UK AD industry a mature and thriving sector that delivers consistently excellent projects.
“ADBA will continue to speak to AD operators about the many benefits of the ADCS both for operators themselves and for the wider industry, including increased support from politicians, regulators, insurers, and investors.”