InSource Energy is building a £5m anaerobic digestion plant at the site of RF Brookes’ ready meals factory in Rogerstone, Newport, which is owned by Premier Foods, the UK’s largest food producer.

EnviTec Biogas is supplying anaerobic digestion technology for the plant that will convert RF Brookes’ food waste into biogas, which will then be used to generate renewable energy in the form of electricity and heat.

The plant has capacity to process around 10,000 tonnes of food waste per year, which is expected to generate 300kW of power.

The energy will be used to help power the factory – the leading supplier of ready meals to Marks & Spencer – providing savings in waste disposal and energy bills and reducing carbon emissions by around 8,500 tonnes per year.

WRAP Cymru provided a grant of £0.5m to part-fund the project under a programme supported by the Welsh Assembly Government to promote anaerobic digestion in Wales.

Construction will be completed by the end of this year and the plant will be fully operational in early 2011.

Phil Coles, RF Brookes’ managing director, said: ’We’ve set a challenging target of sending zero waste to landfill by 2015 and also to maximise opportunities for obtaining energy from renewable sources. We are pleased that this initiative will help us on our road to achieving both of these objectives and are delighted to be the first company in Wales to adopt this technology in this way.’