The Sunrise Project carried out by Greenfinch in partnership with the University of Southampton reached the following conclusion with respect to pathogen destruction, that:
- Mesophilic or thermophilic anaerobic digestion with the additional process stage of pasteurisation at 70°C for one hour achieves the eradication of pathogens meeting the standards of the EU-ABPR.
It is EU policy that food waste and other animal by-products should be recycled as biofertiliser to improve the quality of soil, but that it is imperative that this is carried out safely with minimal risk to animal and human health. It is in all our interests to develop a sustainable economy in which resources are reused and recycled. It is has been confirmed that biogas technology is well placed to achieve this, and at the same time to produce renewable energy, contributing to the low carbon economy.
Draft EU Biowaste Directive
In its current draft form the Biowaste Directive encourages the recycling of organic matter within wastes to agricultural land in order to improve the organic quality of soil and increase its concentration of macro- and micro-nutrients. If this directive is implemented, local authorities will be forced to adopt separate collection schemes for food waste.
Climate Change Legislation
It is the policy of the EU and its member states that urgent means are applied to significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The controlled anaerobic digestion of food waste contributes to this in four ways:
• it prevents the emission of methane and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from uncontrolled decomposition;
• by producing renewable energy and offsetting the carbon emissions that would otherwise have been emitted from burning fossil fuels;
• by recycling the digestate as a biofertiliser back to agricultural land and offsetting the use of mineral fertiliser (the production and transportation of mineral fertilisers uses large amounts of carbon dioxide); and
• by reducing the transportation of waste.