28th Jan 2008 - Pod partner is electric

Pod's latest partner at Scottish Water's Lanarkshire facility in Cumbernauld is quite literally electric.

Business Development Manager, Donald MacBrayne and his team will shortly be producing ‘green' electricity at the plant. Not only will this power the plant, but it's hoped some will be sold on to neighbouring sites in the Westfield Industrial Estate and maybe even sold back to the National Grid.

Donald outlines how the scheme will work and the benefits it will deliver : "The good bacteria which are all around us will help to break down the kitchen and green waste.... they produce gases which can be harnessed and burned to produce electricity. Everything from potato peelings to soggy old tea bags can be transformed into an efficient and environmentally friendly energy source.

"We are looking to develop this environmentally friendly way of producing electricity to the point where we will not only be able to power our own plant, but also sell green energy back to our neighbours at a reduced rate, and eventually even sell some back to the National Grid."

In Cumbernauld Scottish Water already recycles more than 40,000 tonnes of green waste every year. Since the Deerdykes facility was opened in October 2006, around 90,000 tonnes of grass clippings, tree cuttings and shrub strimmings have been recycled. Taking the green waste from five neighbouring local authorities, this has been transformed into around 45,000 tonnes of the environmentally friendly compost product known as Pod.

Around a third of the refuse in our kitchen bins can be recycled. The Deerdykes facility in Lanarkshire is helping Scottish Councils to meet their strict recycling targets and avoid passing potentially costly Landfill fines onto council tax payers.

The green energy initiative has the backing of the local community, who appreciate what the Scottish Water facility is doing for the environment, not just in Lanarkshire, but in five other nearby council areas.

Condorrat Community Council's former Chair, Bobby Johnstone is a supporter of the facility : "This is the way ahead. I would fully commend the efforts of Donald MacBrayne and his team at Deerdykes. Their overall strategy is fabulous and has been a real eye opener for us. Not only are they transforming green waste and reducing landfill in North Lanarkshire, but at another four councils, including that of Scotland's largest city.

Scottish Local Authorities have been targeted with recycling a quarter of their waste by 2010, and a half by 2013. If councils are not able to meet their Landfill Directive targets they could receive heavy fines from Europe. As kitchen waste rots away on landfill sites, it produces powerful greenhouse gases. At Deerdykes these will be safely harnessed to produce green electricity.

A further 5 local authorities will be trialling Scottish Water's Deerdykes recycling facility over the next year, with a view to sending all their green waste to be transformed into environmentally friendly Pod and potentially green electricity, in future.