SecAnim, which claims to be the UK’s leading provider of safe and secure collection and disposal services to the farming and meat production sectors, said the move completed a two-stage site regeneration plan.
Set to be commissioned in October 2020, the Shepherdson High Efficiency Plant (SHEP) will turn raw material into high-quality tallow and meat and bone meal. The tallow will be used as a core ingredient for the production of biodiesel, by companies such as SecAnim’s sister company ecoMotion, while the meat and bone meal will provide fuel for the site’s combined heat and power (CHP) biomass plant.
At the heart of the SHEP development is a highly advanced primary processing plant, which harnesses the latest advancements in low-temperature drying technology to maximise operational efficiencies.
Minimise environmental impact
Designed to minimise environmental impact, the facility uses significantly less energy than the operation it replaces and is powered entirely by renewable electricity generated through a category 1 animal by-product rendering process.
The plant harnesses automation and health and safety processes, including gas detection and operator protection measures, while also incorporating the latest odour elimination technology.
The development will operate alongside the Widnes site’s existing ReFood anaerobic digestion (AD) plant, SARVAL category 3 rendering facility and bubbling fluidised bed (BFB) power plant. SecAnim said it completed Widnes’s pioneering operations, which were designed to collectively provide the world’s first fully-integrated solution for protein manufacturing, biomass recycling and renewable energy production.
On-site biomass CHP plant
Heat required for the SHEP’s operations will be provided by the on-site biomass CHP plant, supported by biomethane from the ReFood AD plant. Effluent will be treated on-site, in line with the latest environmental standards, while the CHP plant will also be used to eliminate odours from the SHEP facility, rather than relying on chemical treatment.
Collectively, the plants will provide a recycling outlet for the disposal of bioliquids, as well as producing two arable fertilisers (Kalfos, a dry phosphate product; and ReGrow, a PAS110 liquid biofertiliser).
“Our Widnes operation has provided safe and secure animal by-product processing services since the 1930s," said Philip Simpson, commercial director at Saria – parent company of SecAnim, Sarval and ReFood. "The site has long-since featured in the UK National Animal Disease Control and Eradication plans.
'Total investment of almost £50m'
“We are delighted to unveil the culmination of our redevelopment programme, which creates a completely unique, fully-integrated solution for by-products arising from the food chain and represents a total recent Saria investment at Widnes of almost £50m.
"Forming an integrated unit together with the Sarval, and ReFood plants, as well as the BFB, the SHEP facility sets the standards in capability, efficiency and sustainability – no other single operation in the UK can offer similar facilities or deliver similar benefits.”
The new development consolidates SecAnim’s Category 1 national processing infrastructure into a single, integrated site. As part of this programme, the company has announced that its Exeter facility will close later this year. ABP collection services across south west England will be unaffected, thanks to existing facilities in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset.
