Last week I visited my first ‘working’ Anaerobic Digestor Plant.  It was quite amazing what this feat of modern engineering was doing with food waste!  It was a shame that they were not utilising the heat in the same way that the Kirknewton plant intends to, but they seemed to have ideas for the future.  It was an informative tour to learn the potential issues when putting a plant together and a great sharing experience for a community group hoping to embark on such a project for community benefit.   

I have been following the planning for the Kirknewton plant (it is all in the public domain, online at the Edinburgh City Council website) and a lot of work has happened on this since 2008.  There is now planning applicatons in for 16 plants across Scotland, particularly as the Scottish Government’s National Waste Strategy, the Zero Waste Plan, requires the introduction of seperate food waste collections by 2013.  Kirknewton us leading the way as a community.  You may have read the leaflet distributed with this month’s issue of Konect magazine about the Food Waste Collection trial about to start in the village.  This will give an indication of how much waste the village produces at the moment – and ultimately will help you manage your own waste at home (and potentially help you save money on your weekly shop in the process!)

Profits from the plant will go into projects that will bring community benefit.  Finding out what the community needs has been the initial focus for the project, and that information can be used for any community benefit options that come our way.  Today I find out the initial findings from Vikki Hilton from the ‘I Love Kirknewton’ community consultation.  A preview will be given this Thursday evening after the ‘Wood For Winter Warmth’ seminar in  the Village Hall.  All ideas will be presented at ‘Your Big Ideas’  drop in event on Sunday 13th March.  You will also be able to let us know what other ideas you support, what options you think should be considered if an idea is to go ahead and you can even get involved in projects if you have the time.

Following that I will start bringing the first draft of the Community Development Plan together, the AD Plant proposal and other potential projects that will help fund your ideas.  Keep following the blog (e mail/twitter/facebook/Konect/local press) for updates.