Composting Facility – Anaerobic Digester

Biffa Leicester’s composting facility, based in Wanlip, has been designed to treat all the organic waste (kitchen scraps, grass cuttings, food waste etc) that has been extracted out of the wheelie bin waste by the Ball Mill.

The composting process is carried out within sealed, cylindrical digestion tanks, where the organic waste is liquefied, heated and broken down by bacteria. This process gets rid of all contaminates and ‘nasties’ (i.e. lead from batteries, germs, bad bacteria from food waste etc) enabling the finished product, known as Cake, to be put back onto the land and used in agriculture.

Also during this process, methane gas is produced. This is harnessed, converted into electricity (known as green energy) and fed back into the National Grid. Each hour, enough green energy is produced to power 1500 homes.

For a more in depth look at the process, click here.