As a company that is truly circular, Swanline believes that businesses are responsible for achieving good environmental practice and operating in a sustainable and corporately responsible manner.
One of the ways that Swanline has been able to do this is by partnering with CorrBoard UK and CorrBoard Bioenergy. CorrBoard Bioenergy offers the world’s first sustainable energy generation facility fuelled by organic waste to provide heat and power for the manufacture of corrugated sheet board in the form of an anaerobic digestion plant (AD Plant).
CorrBoard links food process waste from food product manufacturers to the corrugated materials from which their packaging is made by customers of CorrBoard UK. This is achieved through the relationship with CorrBoard Bioenergy Ltd based adjacent to the factory, which produces over 140% of Corrboard UK’s energy requirement for electricity and heat.
Ordinarily, the bulk of food waste ends up in landfill, but this sustainable innovation diverts material from landfill into CorrBoard Bioenergy where, through a process of anaerobic digestion, it is converted into biogas, electricity and heat used at the corrugated sheet-feeder. Consequently, the whole CorrBoard UK site is carbon neutral in its manufacture of corrugated sheet board. Excess energy produced at CorrBoard Bioenergy is seamlessly transferred into the National Grid for the nation to use.
The construction of the AD Plant commenced in June 2018, was commissioned in December 2019 (18 months), and cost over £7.9 Million. Not only does the AD Plant ensure the CorrBoard UK site is carbon neutral, as well as transferring excess to the national grid, but the by-product of the anaerobic digestion process is nitrogen rich PAS110 certified fertiliser. This is used to enhance the growth of crops and enrich grazing land for livestock. This nutrient rich material known as digestate, is as efficient as commercially manufactured fertiliser, more economical and with less carbon. When waste is returned to the soil as a nutrient, it creates true circularity repeatedly.
Conversely, when food waste and organic waste not fit for human consumption is diverted to landfill, it wastes a significant renewable energy source. The CorrBoard facility is permitted to process up to 100k tonnes of food waste / annum, that would otherwise end up in landfill.
CorrBoard UK has recently won two significant awards as a direct result of CorrBoard Bioenergy, the Sustainable Innovation award at the Paper Industry Gold Awards and winner of the Best Renewable Energy Project at The Humber Renewables Awards.
Partner with Swanline to ensure your customers can be a part of true circularity.
