£15.6m Dorset AD plant in the works

The largest task in its 29-year history, this is the second AD facility for the company.

The plant will accept leftover food and peelings and convert them into green gas, which will then be directly supplied into the gas grid. To further its efforts, Eco is also converting its truck fleet, switching from diesel to green gas from the AD plant, said to result in an 85% reduction in CO2 emissions.

Eco has said that the AD facility will be capable of handling over 50,000 tonnes of food waste annually.

Mildren Construction has been selected as the main building contractor for the new Parley AD plant, expected to be fully operational by January 2026 and create five new jobs.

A large portion of the funding (£8.715m) is from Lombard, an asset finance provider and part of NatWest Group.

‘Sustainability at its core’

Henry Bragginton, relationship manager at Lombard, said: “The mission of the team at Eco Sustainable Solutions is to create a more sustainable environment for everyone and to encourage people to recycle as much as possible.

“We were very pleased to be able to support the business in putting this into action with its new anaerobic digestion plant.

“It’s exciting to work with a business putting sustainability at its core.”

Andy Moore, Eco’s financial director, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Lombard for their support, including guiding us through a complex process over many months.

“What was particularly impressive was that they were able to leverage the right people within the bank at the right time, making the transaction smooth and hassle-free for us.”