With funding and support from the BPA, Auckland food waste processing company Ecostock first started working with Scion in 2016 to conduct trials on an anaerobic digestion (AD) pilot plant.
The pilot plant was ultimately moved to Ecogas, of which EcoStock is a founding partner, and the company set up a state-of-the-art organics processing facility in Reporoa turning food waste into energy.
Ecogas recently won the Low Carbon Future award at the NZ Energy Excellence awards 2023 for its transformation of food waste into energy and liquid fertiliser.
Food waste arrives on site, is decontaminated and goes into an anaerobic digestion process where it is broken down into energy, in the form of biogas and nutrients.
At the facility, nutrients from food are pasteurised and turned into liquid fertiliser, applied on local farms.
Biogas is used to produce electricity and heat to keep the Ecogas plant self-sufficient. It is also used to heat local commercial tomato glasshouses. Next year, there are plans to upgrade it into bio-methane and bio-CO2.
Ecogas has recently announced a partnership with Christchurch City Council to provide a long-term solution for the processing of kerbside organics and garden waste. A fully-contained organics processing facility will be built on an industrial site in South Hornby, evolving the Ecogas Reporoa Organics Processing Facility design and operations for the needs of Christchurch and wider Canterbury.
This facility will feature dual processing lines as part of the bespoke solution, combining biomass production with anaerobic digestion for a comprehensive waste and energy solution for Christchurch.
For more information visit Ecostock (ecostock.co.nz) and Ecogas (ecogas.co.nz)
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