Food manufacturer 2 Sisters Food Group is set to open what it says is the ‘world’s first’ potato-powered factory that will help cut its carbon footprint by 20 per cent.
The new eco-factory, set to open at 2 Sisters’ Carlisle food processing site, will use potato waste from the plant’s mashed potato and pie manufacturing lines.
Diverting this waste to power production will help the company meet its goal of zero-waste to landfill by 2017, and could see a further 10 bio-refineries developed at other 2 Sisters factories.
Part of the company’s new ‘Feeding Our Future’ sustainability plan, the new plant will produce 3,500 MWh of electricity and around 5,000 MWh of steam every year, using four patented anaerobic digestion processes to extract gas.
The remaining waste can then be re-used as fertiliser, which could be used to one of 2 Sisters’ 700 farms.
Andrew Edlin, group sustainability director, said: “The bio-refinery is a world-first for the food industry, using a new type of super-efficient technology to generate energy from potato waste. We are looking to use this system to open up to ten further energy plants at other 2 Sisters factories over the coming three years, using potato and other food waste to generate energy and steam.”
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