Vegetable waste plant gets go-ahead

By gholmes

A village farm has been given the green light for a pioneering plan to generate electricity using vegetable waste.

And, Boston Borough Council's planning committee was told that the anaerobic digestion plant at Staples in Wrangle has already been given the backing of the Government.

The plant will see waste such as miss-shapen vegetables, leaves and stems burned in two digesters to create bio-gas to power a 1.4MW engine that, in turn, will produce 11,565MWh per year.

Staples production director George Read told councillors half the energy produced would be used to provide electricity for the firm's Marsh Farm complex with the rest going into the National Grid.

He said similar plants had already been successfully "tried and tested" in Denmark and Germany.

Mr Read said the whole process would be carried out in a "contained, sealed environment" to prevent any bad odours being generated and revealed waste material created would be used as fertiliser.

He added the scheme had been backed by the Government, which had designated it an "exemplar project" with the hope that it would lead the way for other such projects elsewhere in the UK.

Councillors unanimously voted in favour of the plan that included the plant itself with a 21 metre high primary digester, a smaller secondary digester and a plastic-coated steel framed portal building to house the engine as well as new walls and security fencing.

Cllr Mike Brookes explained: "This is an environmentally friendly scheme which ticks all the boxes. It is using vegetables that would otherwise be left to rot and is also low odour."

Mayor of Boston Cllr Maureen Dennis, who represents Wrangle on the council, said the plant would be a 'showcase' for the area, while committee chairman Cllr Alison Austin described it as "an excellent first for the borough".