A NEW service from Holsworthy-based Andigestion was welcomed by the MP for Tiverton and Honiton, who attended the system’s launch at Shebbear College on Thursday, September 1, writes Zoë Uglow.

Shebbear College is Devon’s first school to sign up to the new scheme and the Post was invited along to the opening to see what it is all about.

Representatives from Andigestion visited pupils at Shebbear College to talk about the waste disposal systems and the clean energy they are already providing the school. They also explained the new ‘Wheelie Bin Service’ they are providing to Shebbear and businesses in Devon.

Mike Lowe, operations director at Andigestion, said: “Our new Wheelie Bin Service now enables small and medium-sized businesses in Devon to also dispose of their food waste and leftovers in an efficient, clean and green eco-friendly way.”

Shebbear College will be undertaking the wheelie bin exchange scheme, as Andigestion has promised to swap any full food waste bins for fresh, steam-cleaned ones, every week. This will help to keep the premises clean and hygienic.

It has also recently completed full installation of the two large biomass boilers on the school site, which produce heating for the school from recycled materials created from the by-products of the anaerobic digestion of the school’s food waste.

Sue Letchford, finance coordinator at Shebbear College, explained what improvement the new boiler has made to the school. She said: “Before our old boiler system was not manageable for us because if a building was not being used it would still be getting heated, wasting energy.

“With the new system we are able to turn it down and have been making massive savings thanks to Andigestion’s help.”

Ms Letchford added: “We are proud to be an eco-school so green issues are an important part of our school culture and ethics.

“We encourage pupils to recycle in all sorts of ways on a day-to-day basis, so this new service perfectly complements our commitment to tackling food waste and reducing landfill.”

Carly Kilbey, the business development manager for Andigestion’s Holsworthy site, and Andigestion truck driver Nick White, visited the school to help explain what Andigestion is all about and how the new system will benefit Shebbear College.

On the new wheelie bin exchange, Mr White said: “We are able to transport more waste in our bins thanks to the reinforced bases and strengthened axels.”

They said that Andigestion’s Holsworthy plant was the UK’s first ‘food only’ anaerobic digestion plant. They are able to process around 70,000-tonnes of food waste from residential homes and businesses in Devon per year — including waste produced at Shebbear College.

Carly Kilbey gave a brief overview of what the company, Andigestion, does and how it has been helping Shebbear College reduce its waste output to virtually nothing.

She said: “Andigestion was put together by a group of farmers who were using anaerobic digestion to get rid of waste.

“We have since been working with large food manufacturers like Ginsters, Kensey Foods and the Samworth Brothers group in general to provide a cleaner way of disposing of food waste.”

Andigestion benefits Shebbear College because it collects all the food waste from the school and converts it into ‘digestate fertilisers’ through a process of green energy. This is then used to produce electricity, which is put back into the grid and may eventually be used to power Shebbear’s lights.

A by-product of the process is heat, which the company uses to dry woodchips.

These dried out woodchips are then delivered to the school in large quantities where they are stored in a new, purpose-built shed, that the Post was given a tour of, ready to be used to fuel Shebbear College’s biomass boilers.

Ms Kilbey said: “Larger companies want to reduce their carbon footprint. The food stock we collect at the Andigestion plant is used to create green energy, which can then be used by those businesses.

“Much like it is at Shebbear where their two biomass boilers burn woodchips, which we dry by using the excess heat which is a bi-product from the digestion of the food waste we collect from their waste bins.”

Also in attendance at the launch event and showing a keen interest in the new system being put in place at Shebbear College was MP for Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish (Conservative), chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) select committee.

He said: “I am very impressed with Shebbear College’s system. I have been around the Andigestion plant and seen the food waste coming in from the school and the process used to produce the gas that is used in the engines to produce electricity,” he said.

“I am very happy to see it all happening, it is a great recycling circle.”

The MP also took the opportunity to speak to some of Shebbear College’s sixth form pupils about their thoughts on the new system and also on the state of the economy in general.

The pupils had the opportunity to ask their own questions and comment on how good they thought the new school system was.

On the good work being done by Shebbear College and their involvement with such an eco project, Mr Parish added: “I’m delighted to support this new service as we are all constantly trying to reduce the amount of food waste that goes to landfill — it’s a very big issue which affects us all.”

“I’m also very pleased that Shebbear College will be making good use of the service and hope that businesses across the county will also be inspired to play a part in reducing the amount of food waste that currently goes to landfill.”

Shebbear College is inviting the public to come and see their biomass boilers and new facilities, including the new Music and Sixth form blocks, during the school’s Open Week on the week commencing October 3. See the school website for full details, www.shebbearcollege.co.uk