Biogen’s Waen plant in Denbighshire will recycle an impressive 22,500 tonnes of food waste every year, generating 1MW of renewable electricity for the national grid, enough to power 2,000 homes, the equivalent of the nearby city of St Asaph.

The food waste is being sent to the plant from a consortium of Denbighshire, Conwy and Flintshire local authorities, all of which carry out weekly food waste collections from residents and businesses.

Construction work on Waen, located on the site of a former abattoir, began in July 2013, taking around 12 months to complete.

Julian O’Neill, chief executive of Biogen, said: “We are delighted that construction of the plant was completed on time and within budget.  We’re very happy to be working in partnership with Denbighshire County Council, Conwy County Borough Council and Flintshire County Council to help the authorities, and Wales as a whole, lead the way in recycling food waste to create green energy.

“The Waen plant and our other projects in Wales and in England are making a significant contribution to the target of meeting 15 per cent of the UK’s energy demand through renewable sources by 2020.”

The Waen AD plant is the company’s fourth operational plant in the UK, bringing the total amount of waste processed across all Biogen sites to more than 150,000 tonnes per year.

As part of Biogen’s closed loop, the AD plant will also produce a valuable biofertiliser to be supplied for use on nearby farmland, thus ensuring what started on the farm ends on the farm.

Sam Bates, waste operations manager at Denbighshire County Council, said: “We are very proud of the AD plant and also pleased that residents across the three counties will have access to the scheme. We’ll be encouraging householders to make full use of the kitchen caddies with the knowledge that their food waste is being put to such good use to create renewable energy.”