Yorkshire and Anglian have formed a partnership to treat Anglian’s sludge at Yorkshire’s newly built anaerobic digestion plant in Huddersfield that currently has spare capacity.
Under the agreement, sludge will be transported from Anglian’s treatment works in Great Billing to Yorkshire’s Huddersfield site.
The plant, which was completed in 2020, is part of Yorkshire’s sludge strategy to move towards 100% anaerobic digestion and its plans to increase onsite energy generation.
Kevin Spink, bioresources waste services manager at Yorkshire, said: “This sludge trade deal is a first for Yorkshire Water and illustrates the benefits available to our sector through collaboration with other companies.”
He added that Yorkshire is in discussions with other wastewater companies to expand its trade deals to utilise its capacity and ensure sludge can be treated more efficiently.
During AMP7 covering 2020-25, Yorkshire has committed to maximising energy generation at its sites and offering more opportunities to third-party companies to enhance how it transports, treats and recycles sludge.
The UK bioresources market is worth an estimated £1.6 billion. At present, Yorkshire spends 8% of its annual operating costs on treating sludge.