Everyone who’s ever cooked a too-big turkey at Christmas will know all about reinventing it in sandwiches, salads, risottos and curries when the big day is over and done with. But well-known poultry producer Bernard Matthews will bring a new meaning to the phrase ‘turkey leftovers’ when a £4 million biogas plant opens at their site in Holton, Suffolk, in 2013.

The firm has joined forces with anaerobic specialists Glendale Power to build the renewable energy plant which will convert more than 28,000 tonnes of liquid waste a year into biogas. This will then be used to generate electricity to help fuel the factory’s power grid. Surplus heat produced during the anaerobic digestion process will also be used to heat the factory’s water. When complete, the project will be able to supply the Holton site with 13% of its electricity and 10% of its heat. It’ll also cut the site’s carbon emissions by 2,800 tonnes a year and reduce waste-carrying lorry journeys by an impressive 60%.

Wilding says: ‘What a great initiative to use up waste that’s produced on site and help the environment at the same time. We hope it’ll have other manufacturing firms around the UK “talking turkey” about renewable energy all year round, not just at Christmas!’

Source: NNFCC