Three Year 9 students, Jaydene Chappell, Shannon Clay and Hana Stephen from Woodham Academy recently visited the Emerald Biogas Plant on Aycliffe Business Park. The purpose of their visit was to gather information on food waste and the Waste Warriors campaign for a project at school.
The plant, which was completed in July 2013, has a small work force of six employees. There are plans to expand the plant and increase the number of employees. On arrival, the students were given safety jackets and helmets to wear and were taken on a tour of the site. They learnt about the process of food waste, what Emerald Biogas do to help the environment and the company’s plans for the future.
The students commented: “After we’d put our safety equipment on, we headed over to a building where there were trucks filled with food waste being emptied into a huge pile of rubbish. Outside the building there were several green bins that had been collected from homes. Before we even went inside the building there was a really unpleasant smell. As the smell was so strong we stood with our hands over our mouths, listening to information about how much food waste there was and where the company collects the food waste. When we finally caught our breath again we were taken to all the tanks around the plant and were told the processes of each tank. We were also taken into a boiler room, which was nice and warm, that contained energy that was used for powering and heating our homes and other buildings.”
Although the smell was unpleasant a staff member stated that you soon get used to it. Visiting Emerald Biogas was an excellent experience and really helped the students understand how food waste is converted into energy.
