Making the Most of the Sludge Market: a water company perspective - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Making the Most of the Sludge Market: a water company perspective Simon Black Head of Recycling & Environmental Services - Anglian Water Director – Assured Biosolids

N L I N C O L N S H I R E CHP Pyewipe Scunthorpe B Grimsby Newton Over 70% of AW’s sludge is N E L I N C S Marsh transferred by road to 10 STC’s! N O T T S Lincoln KEY Ingoldmells Canwick Skegness Pre-pasteurisation + Digestion + Dewatering c.2.0m tonnes of liquid L I N C O L N S H I R E B Biological Hydrolysis+ Digestion + Dewatering sludge is transferred from Grantham Boston T Marston 1,091 WRC’s and a further Thermal Hydrolysis + Digestion + Dewatering 290k tonnes of dewatered CHP Co-composting N O R F O L K King’s Lynn B Spalding King’s Lynn sludge to 10 STC’s CHP CHP Installed Caister Co-combustion plant CHP Tydd Norwich T Raw Dewatering only Whitlingham Gt.Yarmouth R U T L A N D P E T E R B O R O U G H Cake Reception Facility Peterborough Lowestoft L E I C S Lowestoft Raw Cake Export (primary destination ) Market Harborough Flag Fen Corby Raw Cake Export (secondary destination) Thetford Ely Thetford Kettering Huntingdon N O R T H A M P T O N S H I R E Wellingborough Broadholme CHP Bury St Edmunds B Great Billing B Northampton S U F F O L K St Neots Cambridge CHP Cambridge B E D F O R D S H I R E Bedford Haverhill M I L T O N CHP K E Y N E S CHP Bedford Ipswich B Cliff Quay T Cottonvalley Milton Keynes Letchworth Leighton Chalton Linslade Colchester Harwich & Dovercourt O X O N B U C K S Hitchin CHP Colchester Stevenage 156,000tds production forecast B Luton Dunstable c.22% of bioresources cost Clacton E S S E X 2020/21, with treatment Jaywick CHP Chelmsford can be attributed to the Chelmsford capacity of 175,300tds across 10 collection and transfer of Basildon CHP Rochford sites (157,770tds @ 90% B Basildon raw sludge to STCs Rayleigh availability) SOUTHEND West THURROCK Canvey Tilbury

Power generation O&M brought in-house CHP Power (GWh) Conventional AD& CHP 100 90 Advanced AD 80 70 HpH Gt Billing 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Treatment capacity

Revenue forecast 2020…….

AD plants – sewage sludge/OOW Anglian Water STCs Other Organic Waste AD plants

Current situation Biosolids Source segregated AD 473 operational plants in the UK – 329 are farm fed Sewage sludge produced at 8,500 sites and 144 waste fed – capacity of 12.3 Mt Treated at 174 STCs producing 3.6 WRAP state 10.2 Mt of food-waste per annum, million wet tonnes/annum including 4.7 Mt from households Vast majority goes to agricultural land Water Industry data - 2016 Data adapted from NNFCC and ADBA

Sludge trading – an opportunity? • Potential for sludge trading with 3 neighbouring water companies is limited: ▪ Cost of hauling liquid sludge (94-97% water) is high ▪ c.160,000m 3 of liquid sludge (7.4%) could travel across the AW boundary • Opportunity with third party AD sites is much greater: ▪ 32 commercial AD sites, accepting food & other wastes, ▪ 25 industrial AD sites, ▪ 90 agricultural AD sites, all within the AW region • A significant reduction in haulage cost could be delivered in future ▪ Carbon/ vehicle emissions/congestion reduction • Market is likely to develop gradually, as additional capacity is required, if materials remain separate • Mandatory food-waste collections has the potential to significantly increase the quantity of food-waste available

Environmental legislation – a trading barrier? • Sludge trading between water companies - – No barriers, as Sludge Use in Agriculture Regulations (SUAR) apply – Limited potential (c.7.4% for AW) as haulage costs are high • Co-treatment including sewage sludge - – materials immediately deemed a waste, regardless of whether they are wastes in isolation – materials don’t meet any of the existing QPs /EOW standards & SUARs don’t apply – Co-treated materials require Standard Rules 2010 No. 4 and associated deployment for each 50 ha block of land – adds significant admin/permit costs, delays & associated operational cost – The opportunity is significant, but the associated legislation blocks acceptance – co-treatment in the water industry is currently falling – from 5% to < 1% – AW operated two sites and closed/is closing operations A clear need for change – reducing cost and environmental impact!

Biosolids Assurance Scheme - BAS Water Industry initiative to provide reassurance to the food chain and consumers delivered by Assured Biosolids Ltd (ABL) a not-for-profit industry owned company Brings together regulations and best practice into a single transparent Standard Sets a minimum Standard – which protects the environment & creates a level playing field for all operators and contractors Stakeholder input and support are essential to maintain validity and credibility Third party audit by NSF Certification NSF Certification have achieved UKAS Accreditation for the BAS Standard Currently c .96% of UK output to agric. land is Certified https://assuredbiosolids.co.uk

BAS Scheme Scope Wastewater sludges and all other Excludes material for e.g. industrial SLUDGE input materials are subject to TREATMENT use & incineration Source Material Risk Assessments Controls on size, duration, location Including transport and long term FIELD STORAGE etc. to protect the environment storage sites and receptors Scope ends on satisfactory Extensive controls to protect soil, application to land environment and receptors • Food waste already allowed (through SMRA), but Members still required to comply with relevant regulations • Could add additional controls as required

A way forward • The EPR is a framework; the EA apply appropriate controls dependent on the risk: • A ‘new point’ e.g. hybrid permit • An existing control e.g. exemption • Using additional controls (perhaps BAS plus any amendments) as required, to reduce the risk, should allow a reduction in regulatory effort • Therefore reducing the cost and oversight required • Depends on demonstrating the controls already in place and potentially adding additional controls - further engagement with the EA (and others)

Conclusions • SUAR supported by the Biosolids Assurance Scheme (BAS) currently provides robust controls & assurance for biosolids recycling to agricultural land – biosolids is perceived as “a valuable resource, not as a waste” • Using additional controls (e.g. BAS plus any amendments as required) to reduce the risk, should allow reduced regulatory effort when materials are co-treated - • Allowing market development & ensuring efficient future investment. • Enabling sludge trading whilst protecting customer bills, the environment and the associated benefits the material provides.

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