User:BiogenUK/sandbox

Biogen is a designer, builder, owner and operator of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plants in the UK. The company employs 90 people across the UK and has its head office in Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire. It is responsible for the construction of 19 AD plants to date and currently operates 5 food waste AD plants in England and Wales.

Contents 1 History 2 Operations 3 Environmental benefits 4 Agronomic benefits 5 Local Authorities 6 Location of AD plants 7 ISO and BSI standards 8 Awards

History Biogen’s anaerobic digestion business was established in 2005 with investment from Bedfordia Group. The company’s Twinwoods anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, at Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire was completed in 2006 to process food waste along with animal slurry from Bedfordia Farms. In 2008 Biogen acquired technology and engineering company Greenfinch Ltd. Greenfinch was set up in 1993, initially constructing AD plants for the waste water industry and for farmers as a form of managing their livestock waste. In 2012 Biogen secured £24m of investment from construction, property and services company Kier, making them joint venture partners alongside Bedfordia Group. Since 2006 Biogen’s main focus has been on providing a sustainable food waste treatment service for local authorities, retailers, pubs, restaurants, hotels, offices and food manufacturers. Biogen has won several industry, environmental and business awards.

Operations Biogen’s AD plants process over 180,000 tonnes of food waste each year and can generate 8Mw of green electricity for the national grid which is enough electricity to power 18,000 homes. What’s left from the AD process is a liquid rich in nitrogen, potash, phosphate and other trace elements that can be stored on site until spreading time and returned to the land as a nutrient rich biofertiliser to grow more crops. This is called The Closed Loop – what starts on the farm is returned to the farm so that the whole process can begin again.

Environmental benefits Anaerobic digestion is recognised by the government, Defra, the Welsh Govt, [|the Scottish Parliament], Friends of the Earth and the National Farmers Union as one of the best methods for the sustainable management of food waste, farm waste and sewage sludge. The Landfill Directive is driving the UK away from reliance on landfill to other options higher up the waste hierarchy, such as recycling and energy recovery. Biogen’s AD plants provide a low-carbon process that meets both these requirements by: Recovering value from food waste, diverting food waste from landfill, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, avoiding methane emissions, reducing the use of fossil-fuel derived fertiliser, recycling nutrients and treating waste locally.

Agronomic benefits The agronomic benefits of biofertiliser produced from the AD process are widely recognised as the nutrients are in a form that enable them to be readily taken up by a crop. Using biofertiliser also reduces the reliance on fossil fuel derived fertilisers which makes it better for the environment.

Local authorities Local authorities use Biogen to process food waste from doorstep collections that help meet recycling targets and CSR objectives. Local authorities using Biogen’s AD plants include Central Bedfordshire Council, West London Waste Authority, East Northamptonshire Council, Flintshire County Council, Peterborough City Council, Surrey County Council, Leicestershire County Council and Gwynedd Council.

Location of AD plants. Biogen’s AD plants are located in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Denbighshire, Caernarfon and Rhondda Cynon Taf.

ISO and BSI Standards. All Biogen's AD plants are fully licensed and regulated by the Environment Agency and Animal Health and conform to ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001. Biofertiliser from the AD plants meet the British Standards Institute Quality Protocol PAS 110. Biogen’s own environmental experts worked with BSI, WRAP and the Renewable Energy Association (REA) to develop the national specification BSI PAS 110, on which the protocol is based. Biofertiliser from a BSI PAS 110 accredited AD plant is classified as a product rather than a waste. The spreading of this product is not subject to waste management controls which greatly simplifies the marketing and spreading of the biofertiliser.