Walkers announces new carbon capture initiative

Walkers announces new carbon capture initiative
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Crisp brand Walkers has announced a new partnership with clean-tech firm CCm Technologies to repurpose its potato waste into fertiliser.

With the potential to reduce potato-based carbon emissions by an estimated 70%, the carbon capture technology will be connected to Walkers’ anaerobic digestor, which uses food waste to generate nearly 75% of the electricity at the Bursom Road Walkers factory in Leicester. 

By-product waste from the anaerobic digestion process will be transformed into low-carbon fertiliser and returned to farms across the UK where potatoes are grown for Walkers’ crisps, driving circularity in the potato growing process and ensuring zero waste is sent to landfill.

Parent company PepsiCo has developed the initiative as part of a broader agriculture programme, and is hoping that the new system could pave the way for a carbon-negative future in potato production. It is also hoped that the technology could be beneficial for crops such as oats and corn.

David Wilkinson, PepsiCo’s senior director of Agriculture, said: “From circular potatoes to circular crops, this innovation with CCm Technologies could provide learnings for the whole of the food system, enabling the agriculture sector to play its part in combating climate change.

“This is just the beginning of an ambitious journey, we’re incredibly excited to trial the fertiliser on a bigger scale and discover its full potential.”

Founding director of CCm, Pawel Kisielewski, added: “CCm is delighted that PepsiCo has chosen our technology to demonstrate the huge potential that innovative approaches can have in promoting sustainable agriculture across the UK.

“By enabling the sustainable reuse of waste resources and the locking of captured carbon back into the soil, our partnership represents a significant step forward in proving that agriculture can play a role in carbon reduction and the circular economy.”

Find out more on the latest carbon capture initiatives from top speakers at our EfW Conference, 10 - 12 March 2021, featuring a presentation on the UK's first proposed CCUS plant in Teesside.

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