Hera and the Cremonini group), leaders in the production of meat and in the distribution of food products, have signed a partnership for the establishment of a NewCo, called BIORG, with the aim of producing biomethane, a 100% renewable fuel, and compost from harvesting differentiated organic and agri-food wastewater. Thanks to an investment of approximately 28 million euros, a site owned by Herambiente in the Modena area, in Spilamberto, will be renovated using the best technologies available. The biomethane production plant will go into operation by 2022.
Using the Spilamberto site, no new land will be occupied and the natural gas will be obtained from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste from the Hera Group’s separate collection and from the waste deriving from the agri-food industry processing process, including the meat production process Inalca, a subsidiary of the Cremonini Group. The expected production, when fully operational, is 3.7 million cubic meters of biomethane per year, which will be injected into the gas network and returned to the territory for use in motor vehicles.
The resulting environmental benefits are important: every year the use of fossil fuel will be saved for about 3,000 TOE (tons of oil equivalent) and CO2 emissions into the atmosphere for about 7,000 tons will be avoided.
The operation will also allow the recovery of material, in addition to the energy one. The waste leaving the anaerobic digestion process, technically called solid digestate, will in fact be further recovered instead of being disposed of, thanks to the transfer to the composting plant in Nonantola (MO) – now owned by the Cremonini Group and which will be transferred to BIORG – to produce about 18,000 tons of compost every year that can be used as a biofertilizer in agriculture.
The NewCo, therefore, will make it possible to carry out concrete interventions for the circular economy in the area in line with the guidelines of the recent National Recovery and Resilience Plan which promotes and supports the construction of new plants for the production of biofuels.