Food manufacturer Nestlé is converting four tonnes of solid waste and 200,000 tonnes of liquid waste through anaerobic digestion into energy at its factory in Newcastle.
One year after it opened the AD plant, it is turning the waste product from brands such as Rolo, Toffee Crisp and Caramac into a chocolate soup.
This is then treated by the AD plant to produce 200kw of electricity. This meets about 8% of the site’s energy needs.
The company estimates that greenhouse gas emissions from the factory in Newcastle should fall by around 10%.
While the equivalent of 41 Olympic-sized swimming pools of clean water has been released from the site in the past year as the system has improved the water quality.
Nestlé Fawdon sustainability manager Andrew Griffiths said: “We’re proud to announce that one year on from launch, we’ve achieved our target of zero waste to landfill at our Fawdon factory, thanks to the installation of a new anaerobic digester.
“The system allows us to convert a large amount of waste that would otherwise enter sewage, used as feed stock or landfill systems and generate methane and other greenhouse emissions.”
Nestlé UK & Ireland installed the AD plant at Fawdon as part of its commitment to achieve zero waste for disposal in 10% of its factories by 2015, a target which achieved two years early in 2013.
Across Europe, Nestlé is increasing its zero waste commitment, guaranteeing all of 150 factories do not send waste to landfill by 2020.
