Food waste recycler PDM Group has entered a joint venture with a German anaerobic digestion technology firm, Saria Bio-Industries, to bring “industrial scale recycling capabilities to the UK”.

The collaboration will be known as ReFood and bring a nationwide AD operation to the UK, based on the collection and recycling model already operated by Saria across Germany.

Currently, there are four ReFood AD plants operating in Germany, which collect waste from 60,000 points across the country.

Once fully operational, the ReFood UK network will work in a similar manner to that of its German counterpart, with collection points located across the country, supported by a network of AD plants.

Planning permission has already been granted for the first ReFood UK AD plant, based at PDM’s head office in Doncaster.

Once built, the new facility will be able to take around 45,000 tonnes of food waste pear year and create renewable electricity and heat.

PDM commercial services director Philip Simpson said: “As a nation, we are lagging behind our European counterparts when it comes to both food waste recycling and AD technology needed to handle it.

“PDM’s joint venture with Saria will bring industrial scale recycling capabilities to the UK, dramatically increasing both scale and scope while also meaning that, as a nation, we will have no excuses not to embrace the benefits of food waste recycling.”

Saria Bio-Industries member of the board Franz Bernhard added that teaming up with PDM would “bring both our areas of expertise together to create an offering that is really going to support food waste recycling and renewable energy generation in the UK.”