Biogas plants for municipal organic waste and waste management
Turn collected biowaste into renewable energy
Municipalities and waste management companies handle rising volumes of source-separated food and garden waste, alongside legal targets to divert biodegradable waste from landfill. A biogas plant for municipal organic waste converts those streams into renewable energy and recovered nutrients, turning a gate-fee-funded disposal duty into an energy and biofertiliser output. HoSt Bioenergy Systems has delivered more than 450 renewable energy projects worldwide, including plants for waste processors such as Attero, Twence and Stanton Recycling. For the underlying technology, see our organic waste biogas plants and anaerobic digestion pages.
Which municipal waste streams suit anaerobic digestion
What a municipal biogas plant produces
- Biomethane for the grid and transport
Raw biogas can be upgraded to biomethane for grid injection, or compressed to bio-CNG as a fuel for a collection fleet. - Biofertiliser and compost from digestate
After sanitation, digestate is valorised as an organic biofertiliser, and its solid fraction can be processed into compost, returning nutrients to the soil. - Food-grade bio-CO2
Biogenic CO2 separated during upgrading can be captured and liquefied to food-grade quality as an extra revenue stream.
Biogas plant at Stanton Recycling
At Stanton Recycling in Ilkeston, UK, HoSt delivered a turn-key biogas plant that digests food and green waste and upgrades the raw biogas to biomethane, raising methane content to 97%. The plant produces 4.7 million Nm3 of biomethane a year, enough to supply more than 3,800 households, injected into Cadent’s gas grid. HoSt built the plant on a full EPC contract on the recycling site itself, with digestate treatment and heat recovery included.
Is source-separated municipal organic waste suitable for digestion?
Yes. Source-separated food and garden waste (the organic fraction of municipal solid waste) is a proven feedstock. Cleaner separation at the kerbside means fewer contaminants, higher gas yield and better digestate quality, so collection quality feeds straight through to plant performance. More information.
What must be kept out of the digester?
Non-organic contaminants such as plastics, glass, metal and packaging lower gas yield, cause wear and end up in the digestate. Depackaging and pre-treatment remove most of it, and the cleaner the incoming stream, the better the result. HoSt matches the pre-treatment line to the contamination level of your waste. More information.
What does a plant produce from household organic waste?
Two valuable outputs: biogas, which can be upgraded to grid-quality biomethane or transport fuel, and digestate for use as a biofertiliser. The biogenic CO2 from upgrading can be recovered as a food-grade product, turning collected waste into several revenue streams. More Information.
How does anaerobic digestion differ from composting?
Composting is aerobic and releases the carbon as CO2, producing only compost. Anaerobic digestion runs without oxygen, captures the carbon as biogas for energy, and still yields a nutrient-rich digestate. For an organic waste stream, digestion recovers energy that composting loses. More information.
Can the digestate be used as fertiliser?
Yes. Digestate is rich in plant-available nutrients and can replace synthetic fertiliser on farmland, closing the loop from collection to soil. Treatment lets you separate or concentrate it to meet local spreading rules and cut transport. More information.