Biofertiliser quality standard achieved by Tamar Energy’s UK food waste recycling plant

UK recycling company Tamar Energy‘s anaerobic digestion (AD) plant has achieved the PAS 110 industry quality standard, ensuring the quality and consistency of the biofertiliser produced through the AD process.

The Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK, plant can process up to 40,000 tonnes of municipal and commercial food waste annually to generate 1.5MW of renewable energy, enough for 3,000 households.

Tamar’s agricultural AD plants at Retford, Nottinghamshire, and Holbeach, Lincolnshire, were awarded PAS 110 certificates in 2015.

Biofertiliser produced in the AD process has been proven in independent trials to improve crop yields and help users replace more costly petrochemical-derived fertilisers.

Tamar’s biofertiliser is used successfully by Worth Farms, its partner at Holbeach, on its potato and vegetable crops, saving a considerable amount on other fertiliser costs.

“AD offers the tri-fold benefit of being used to recycle food waste, generate renewable energy, and produce biofertiliser. Biofertiliser offers several benefits to the farming sector, including cutting costs, increasing yields and returning important nutrients to the land, Dean Hislop, Tamar CEO, said.

The quality standard, known as PAS 110, is designed to give customers confidence that the biofertiliser they receive is fit for purpose and of the highest quality.

It is achieved by demonstrating consistent quality in the biofertiliser produced at individual plants across a number of criteria, including the types of organic waste used in the AD process, the minimum quality and chemical content of the biofertiliser, and the level of information provided to end users.

Operators are required to provide three biofertiliser samples over an extended period for quality testing as well as demonstrating that their internal processes are robust enough to produce high grade biofertiliser.