WHILE many people have been relaxing in the Devon sunshine over the last couple of months, one company based in Holsworthy has been working round the clock to ensure that schools and businesses stay nice and snug during the chilly winter weather to come.

Food waste recycler Andigestion, based at Holsworthy, is perhaps better known for its food collection and reprocessing services, which produce clean, green and eco-friendly energy for local homes and prevent thousands of tonnes of food waste going to landfill.

In a bid to complete the whole eco-cycle and ensure that surplus heat generated by the food recycling process doesn’t go to waste, the company is using that heat to dry woodchip, which is being sold as fuel for large-scale bio-mass boilers in schools, hotels, leisure centres and NHS sites across the county, as well as to domestic customers. One poultry farmer even uses it to heat his chicken sheds!

Jason Ward, commercial manager at Andigestion, said: “By using surplus heat which would otherwise go to waste we’re able to dry our woodchip much more efficiently than conventional air-dried chip.

“The drier it is, the more power it delivers per cubic metre — and that makes it significantly more fuel-efficient and cost-effective.”

By offering woodchip as a commercially viable alternative fuel source, Andigestion is ensuring that the whole food waste recycling process is as sustainable as possible. The company only uses locally sourced timber and ensures that supplies are carefully managed to protect the area’s delicate environmental balance. The wood is then chipped on site and dried before it is delivered to customers ready for use in bio-mass boilers.

Jason added: “Not many people realise that the food waste from our plates contributes to the creation of such an environmentally-friendly and sustainable fuel!

“Creating renewable energy from food waste instead of sending it to landfill is such a positive and beneficial outcome for everyone.”