Irish waste collector, Food Surplus Management (FSM) has teamed up with Co. Tyrone-based Granville Eco Park to create a ‘Smart Loop’, utilising food waste to create a sustainable transport fuel.
Food waste accounts for around 8% of global CO2 emissions.
Anaerobic digestion is a natural process which creates biogas and fertiliser from food waste. This biogas can be refined into biomethane, which is like natural gas.
Meath-headquartered FSM diverts food waste from landfills, for use in the biogas industry. By partnering with Granville Eco Park, who produce biomethane from the food waste, they are able to fuel their CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) delivery vehicles from the waste being delivered, creating a circular economy model or ‘Smart Loop’.
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Granville Eco Park’s Plant Manager, Shane Doherty says “We are delighted to have FSM on board as a ‘Smart Loop’ customer, we believe this relationship will only add to each other’s strength and resilience and we look forward to supporting them in any way we can for a sustainable future.”
The vehicles fuelled by the biomethane can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 95% compared to diesel and reduce air polluting NOx emissions by up to 70%.
FSM’s Scania G410 CNG powered truck can drive for approximately 550km, made from just 1.8 tons of food waste, the firm said.
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Granville Eco Park operates the largest anaerobic digestion facility on the island of Ireland, processing 90,000 tons of food waste per annum into renewable electricity, powering over 5,000 homes as well as a biomethane transport fuel and fertiliser.
The plant’s newly installed biomethane filling station is welcoming all its customers to convert to CNG to save money and join a 'Smart Loop' of recovery.
FSM collects from over 1,500 sites all over the island of Ireland using their own fleet of trucks.
They are keen to convert their entire fleet as soon as the public refueling network allows - this collaboration not only represents a bridging of the gap in the availability of greener vehicle fuel in Ireland, but takes an environmental stride for food waste collection/transport.
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Source: Written from press release
