Anaerobic Digestion

• Anaerobic digestion is a means of rotting down vegetable and garden waste and shredded paper and card in controlled conditions in the absence of air.
• Very much like the process that happens in a landfill site but in a matter of days rather than years.
• Methane is produced, collected and used to power a generator that produces electricity which is either used locally or fed into the grid.
• The stabilised waste material is then landfilled or used to cover and restore landfill sites.

Anaerobic digestion has similar environmental benefits to composting in terms of reduction of methane emissions, odour, leachate toxicity, production of potentially useful products, with the additional advantage of energy recovery. Energy recovery does lead to atmospheric emissions from combustion but these are offset by the displacement of emissions from power stations, and can lead to net reductions in carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, and the conservation of fossil fuel resources.