A pastie-maker is to become the first UK food firm to heat water using its food waste. Proper Cornish Food Company has spent £90,000 on a BioNova biodigestion plant – a cutting-edge system that transforms waste into a fuel – which will eventually power the hot water system in its Bodmin factory.
The company, which produces premium pasties, savoury slices and sausage rolls, currently deals with about five tonnes of food waste a week, which it recycles off-site.
Phase one of its plan was the installation of the new accelerated aerobic biodigester, while phase two will be the installation of a biomass boiler, which will use this fuel to heat the factory’s water.
MD Phil Ugalde said the firm hadn’t been comfortable about driving waste across the county to be recycled, emitting more greenhouse gases in the process.
“The new system is fantastic, as it not only recycles the waste at source, but in the long term, it will help us to reduce our fuel bills by providing an alternative way of heating our hot water,” he said.
The biodigestion plant is the latest sustainable initiative from Proper Cornish; it currently recycles 100 tonnes of cardboard every year, donates all vegetable waste to a local pig farmer, and uses a compostable film on its individually wrapped products.
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