Digestates from anaerobic digestion of organic wastes and wastewater treatment residues are a hot topic at present, for several reasons. On the one hand they represent a largely unrealised resource in terms of nutrients and other potential products: on the other, there are growing concerns about the impact of emerging pollutants such as microplastics, PFAS and other persistent chemicals on the long-term viability of traditional land application. The same arguments apply to residues from other waste-based biotechnologies, including anaerobic fermentation.
Dr Yue Zhang, who co-Leads EBNet’s Anaerobic Fermentation WG, led a study on options for digestate valorisation in the context of a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. The work was carried out for Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL), the business arm of the Renewable Energy Association (REA). A report for publication is currently being finalised with the aim of informing UK industry on current options. Meanwhile Dr Zhang gave a presentation on some key aspects of the work to the Environmental Services & Solutions Expo (ESS 2026) at the NEC Birmingham.
Our thanks to Dr Zhang and REAL for kindly making a version of her talk available here on EBNet’s Youtube channel.
