11 July 2023
*Ok, you have got us, we didn’t headline Glastonbury Festival this year, as we could see Elton John and Guns & Roses had this in the bag, but this year Adapt Biogas was very involved in the 2023 festival, as we were commissioned to collect the ‘behind counter’ food waste to support our Evercreech Anaerobic Digestion plant just over 30 minutes away from the site.
Our Partners
We worked with our partner Critical Waste on the recovery of the food waste starting from the first day of the festival to the final delivery, only coming over in the past day or so.
Over the festival period, Adapt Biogas received around 150 tonnes of behind counter food waste, meaning the food waste that the catering outlets disposed of themselves. All of this waste was deposited into food waste skips dotted around the site and is part of the Glastonbury’s ongoing policy to increase recycling rates and its commitment to a zero-to-landfill policy.
What happens next?
On retrieval of the waste from the site, it was taken to our Evercreech plant and taken into our depackaging unit where the food waste was separated by a flail and screening system, separating the organic matter from the non-organic matter and removal of any packaging that had been left in.
Once the anaerobic digester has digested, we see the rewards of the biogas production, which will eventually be sent via gas injection to the national grid as ‘Green Gas’.
The future
Adapt Biogas was pleased to work on such a prestigious local festival, and plans are already in place to continue this service for 2024 and beyond.
A huge shout out to our operatives on the ground throughout the festival, with the unenviable tasks of handling the food waste (it could have been worse, it could have been the toilets!), but all enjoyed the ambience and wonder of the Glastonbury Festival and even had some downtime to really enjoy the wonderful music and culture on display.
And it was great to see the wealth of green and sustainable messages shared at this festival, echoing our passions for renewable energy and increasing green energy production.
And the results from what was collected and digested will result in a great contribution to the annual heating needs of local homes. We are very lucky to increase these figures year on year and are always happy to speak with local food and drink producers who may have waste or feedstocks available for the plant.
If you would like to know more or have some feedstocks, please contact us lets.adapt@adaptbiogas.com or follow us on our social media platforms.
Take a look at the official 2023 photos from the Festival
