Work has started on building a £15.6 million anaerobic digestion (AD) plant which will convert local food waste and other organic material into renewable energy and bio-fertiliser.
The project is the largest to be undertaken in the 29-year history of Eco Sustainable Solutions, based at Parley, and is its second AD facility.
The new plant will accept leftover food and peelings from the local area and convert them into green gas which will be supplied directly into the gas grid.
Eco is also converting its fleet of trucks, which transport waste to and from the facility, from diesel to green gas.
The gas will also come from the AD plant and result in an 85 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to diesel.
The AD facility will be capable of handling over 50,000 tonnes of food waste annually, producing around 60GWhs (Gigawatt hours) of biomethane, equivalent to the energy needs of 5,300 medium-sized homes.
Hurn-based Mildren Construction is the main building contractor for the new Parley AD plant which is expected to be fully operational by January 2026 and create five new jobs.
The lion’s share of funding for the new plant – £8.715m – is from Lombard, the UK’s largest asset finance provider and part of NatWest Group.
Eco recycles over 230,000 tonnes a year of organic waste from Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire into green energy and landscape products.
The family-owned business has an annual turnover of £17 million and employs 49 people.
From 1996 until 2023, Eco’s operations have prevented 1.9 million tonnes of CO2 from being emitted to the atmosphere.
This has been achieved through the recycling of over 1.2 million tonnes of green waste, 1.2 million tonnes of soil, 0.92 million tonnes of waste wood and 0.62 million tonnes of food waste.
It brings the total tonnage of waste recycled since Eco opened its gates to over 3.94 million tonnes.