The 11,500 tonne anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at Llwyn Isaf completed commissioning in 2013 and processes food waste from homes and commercial food producers to generate a valuable liquid fertiliser (digestate) and enough renewable electricity each year to power more than 700 homes.

Biofertiliser certification demonstrates compliance with the PAS 110 specification, which means that the biofertiliser derived from the AD process is of consistent quality and fit for purpose, i.e. for spreading to farmland as a replacement for fossil fuel derived fertilisers.

The GwyriAD plant is Biogen’s third to achieve the industry certification; the company’s Bedfordshire plant was awarded PAS 110 status earlier in September while its facility in Northamptonshire achieved the certification in 2013.

Of the 50 food waste AD plants currently operating in the UK, only 18 of these have achieved PAS 110 so far.

The £5m Llwyn Isaf plant was financed by Gwynedd Council, Biogen, Iona Capital and the Welsh Government.

Julian O’Neill, CEO Biogen said, “We are delighted that GwryiAD has become our third AD plant to achieve PAS 110. The fact that the biofertiliser produced by our plants can now be defined as a product rather than a waste can only help boost confidence in our AD process with our partners in the farming community.”

Ciaran Burns, Certification Manager at REAL, said: “This project is an exemplar for the industry. .....This project sets the standard for others in Wales to follow."