Leftover waste material is useful as a soil improver
New plans to open a lab capable of analysing anaerobic digestate have been announced by James Hutton Limited, the commercial wing of The James Hutton Institute.
Anaerobic digestate – the leftover material produced when organic waste is broken down by bacteria in a sealed anaerobic digester – is useful as a soil improver. However, before being put into action, digestates must be tested against the quality requirements laid out in Publicly Available Specification 110 (PAS 110).
The Hutton plans to begin offering the new service next year, becoming one of only three organisations in the UK capable of analysing anaerobic digestates for PAS 110 compliance, and the only one in Scotland.
Run by Hutton Scientific Services, part of James Hutton Limited, the laboratory aims to contribute to a greener economy by providing a more localised service for anaerobic digestate analysis.
Researchers also plan to use the crop trial growth facilities at the Hutton to test and demonstrate the digestate’s effectiveness as a soil improver. It is expected that these services will be in place by summer of next year.
As part of the efforts to set up the lab, Hutton Scientific Services are appealing to digestate producers for material and advice on the level of service expected. Anyone interested in supplying either of these can contact business development manager Gareth Newman.
Newman said: “We’re excited to introduce a more locally accessible service for Scottish AD producers seeking material testing. We’re also expanding our testing to include other organic waste materials beyond digestate — with the necessary approvals from SEPA, these too could be considered for land application.”
