An everyday tale of country folk. For most listeners, a trip to Ambridge with its reassuringly rural talk of milk quotas, ploughshares and calving techniques, makes a welcome change from a TV soap universe in which paternity disputes, mass transport tragedies and bodies-under-the-patio melodramas seem to top the bill on a weekly basis.
But life on The Archers isn’t as dyed-in-the-wool as we’ve been led to believe, after all. For all its bucolic middle England stereotyping, pitting posh Snell against workshy Grundy, this long-running radio drama recently created a pioneering storyline that ran for months – on and off air. Who would have thought that a fictional village dispute over whether or not young guns Debbie and Adam would succeed in their bid to bring anaerobic digestion (AD) to Home Farm would generate so much real-life debate about the very same subject?
Waste management is a thorny issue for industrial and domestic users alike. Although in many urban areas excellent recycling routes already exist for recovering the fibre in cartons (and should continue to be used), a myth persists that post-consumer cartons – possibly contaminated with waste foodstuffs – can only be sent either to landfill or the incinerator.
A compelling option
One compelling option in this instance is to utilise the natural biodegradable properties of cartonboard in the AD process. AD principles have been in use since the 19th century, but modern processing technologies mean we can now build highly efficient, small-scale plants around the country – especially in rural areas – that could deliver benefits on many levels, reducing the need for landfill sites and producing so-called ‘waste’ material rich in soil-conditioning nutrients.
In fact, the simple biological process that occurs in the AD plant converts almost any biomass – food waste, crop residue, manure – into a methane-rich gas that can be used to provide clean, renewable energy, lowering our dependence on fossil fuels, and at the same time cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
But it does mean we have to consider how different types of packaging affect the process. Speaking recently at the Pro2Pac Show, Lord Rupert Redesdale, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group, posited his thoughts on the subject, reiterating the need for a clear understanding of what can and cannot be present in an AD plant, to enable us to plan for the future.
New technologies are being developed all the time to retain the performance criteria from current formats, while continuing to closely monitor emerging AD standards and requirements. In future, packaging specifiers will be able to request the inclusion of composting symbols on those cartons where ISO 13432 accredited raw materials have been used and suppliers have warranted that approved process procedures have been followed.
And who knows – Ambridge might one day blaze the green energy trail for towns and villages all over the country.
Neal Whipp is general manager of BPIF Cartons and managing director of Carton Edge. Contact him at neal.whipp@bpifcartons.org.uk
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