AB Produce, Measham, Leicestershire
Updated 29 September 2017
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Background
AB Produce Plc process vegetables at their factory in Measham, Leicestershire. The Environment Agency and North West Leicestershire District Council are working together to address concerns raised by local residents in relation to the management of waste water from the factory.
Following an extensive consultation, the company was granted an environmental permit that allowed them to use an anaerobic digester to treat waste water from the factory, and by doing so produce gas which can be used in an engine to produce electricity. The permit for this anaerobic digester is regulated by the Environment Agency.
Details of this permit can be found online
The anaerobic digester produces a liquid end product commonly referred to as digestate. This can be spread to land for agricultural benefit. This land spreading activity is classified as a waste management activity and regulated with a separate environmental permit issued by the Environment Agency. However, where the digestate meets a specific quality standard, a permit would no longer be required and the digestate could be used in the same manner as farm manures.
The local council have responsibility to investigate complaints where an environmental permit is not required.
What is Anaerobic Digestion?
It is a naturally occurring process where microorganisms break down vegetable matter with oxygen from air. The biological process produces biogas, consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and traces of other gases. This biogas can then be used as fuel in an engine to produce electricity or upgraded to meet natural gas-quality and fed directly into the gas grid.
Land spreading of digestate from AB Produce Plc
The company and their agricultural contractors have a responsibility to use digestate in a manner which meets the requirements of the crop, whilst minimising odour and other environmental risks. The digestate should be spread in a way that meets recognised best practice for the agricultural sector.
The anaerobic digester is expected to reduce the risk of odour from land spreading activities, compared to the previous approach where vegetable washings from the factory were stored in a lagoon then spread to land sometime later.
Contacts
To report environmental incidents or concerns, including issues relating to land spreading, call the Environment Agency’s 24 hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Should the anaerobic digester land spreading activities cause an offensive odour or other pollution, please contact the above hotline. The Environment Agency will work with local council partners to investigate any complaints and provide feedback where requested. For the Measham area it would be North West Leicestershire District Council and for Elford, Lichfield District Council.
If you call to report an odour you will be asked to score the odour out of 6 (as in the table below). Environment Agency officers also use this scale to record the strength of the odour when they conduct odour surveillance around the area. To give you some sense of scale, an odour of 6/6 would be the same as the strongest odour you could ever encounter and could make you physically ill. An odour at 2/6 would be a background odour that is identifiable but unlikely to cause compliant.
| Score | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | very faint odour |
| 2 | faint odour |
| 3 | distinct odour |
| 4 | strong odour |
| 5 | very strong odour |
| 6 | extremely strong odour |
Issues around traffic and operating hours are a matter for Leicestershire police and North West Leicestershire District Council respectively.