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Construction starts on new £32m AD facility in Dagenham

This week, ReFood – the UK’s leading food waste recycler – started construction work on its brand new £32m AD plant in Dagenham. Coming as part of a long-term investment programme, the state-of-the-art gas to grid (G2G) facility will create up to 60 new jobs in the local area.

Capable of recycling 160,000 tonnes of food waste each year, ReFood Dagenham will be able to generate more than 2,000 m3/hr of methane gas. Using G2G technology, this will be upgraded to reflect the qualities of natural gas – allowing it to be injected directly into the national gas grid and used to power more than 10,000 homes across the region.

The plant will be located at the London Sustainable Industries Park (SIP) in Dagenham Dock and is expected to open in summer 2017. When fully operational, more than 60 jobs will be created across logistics, sales and operations.

Philip Simpson, commercial director at ReFood, commented: “Starting construction on our new site in Dagenham is truly a landmark achievement. In London and the surrounding areas, a significant volume of food waste is generated every year and ReFood Dagenham will play a crucial role in recycling this waste. Thus, helping businesses to lower their operational costs, become more sustainable and, most importantly, divert a highly valuable resource away from landfill.

“Our UK operations have grown by 250% since our first year of production in 2012 and we have ambitious plans to further build on this success.”

ReFood Dagenham will be the company’s third plant in the UK, adding to its existing AD sites in Doncaster and Widnes. The plant will also provide a transfer facility for Category 3 animal by-products (ABP), collected from butchers’ shops across London and the South East by ReFood, which is due to open this Autumn.

The new facility continues ReFood’s long association with London. Previously operated by ReFood’s sister company, John Knight Ltd, this is the second time that the operation has relocated since its formation in London almost 200 years ago, when the business moved from Wapping to its current Silvertown site in 1880.

For more information about ReFood, the company’s latest AD facility in Dagenham, or its comprehensive food waste recycling service, visit http://www.refood.co.uk.