In the UK, potato crisps producer Walkers, a PepsiCo brand, has partnered with rolled out technology that will use CO2 captured from beer fermentation in a brewery, mixed with potato waste, to produce fertiliser. The fertiliser will then used on fields for the next potato crop.
The process is expected to slash CO2 emissions from Walker’s manufacturing process by 70%.
Creating fertiliser normally produces high CO2 emissions, but the technology adopted by Walkers makes fertiliser without generating CO2.
The company has installed an anaerobic digester, which feeds potato waste to bacteria to produce methane. The methane is then burned to make electricity for the potato-frying process, thus reducing energy consumption.
The new system will go a step further by taking away potato “cake” left after digestion – and mixing with CO2 from local breweries to make an enriched fertiliser, which will help put carbon back into the soil as well as encourage plant growth.
The initiative is the result of a partnership with British clean-tech firm CCm Technologies.
