Digitalisation in food waste processing

„At Biofilter, we are constantly striving to achieve new milestones in environmental protection and efficiency, and to support the implementation of the circular economy and the growth of renewable energy sources through our developments.”
György Deák, CEO

Company name:

Biofilter Zrt.

Implementation year:

2023

Focus Areas:

Climate protection and adaptation, Waste management, Circular Economy

Program Objective:

By collecting waste, BIOFILTER Zrt. prevents its accumulation and its negative impact on the environment, and by recycling it, it helps to produce bio-energy carriers. The collection and recycling of food waste from restaurants and other catering establishments has been operating in Hungary since 2004. Although a number of campaigns have been launched to reduce food waste, the amount of food waste generated is still significant and modernisation of processing procedures has become essential to ensure proper pre-treatment of waste. In response to these trends, Biofilter has been one of the first to transform its food waste processing plant to make the digital transition.

Program Measures and Commitments:

The new industrial robotic arm represents a huge step forward in the company’s food waste processing process. The company’s Lepsény plant receives around 600-800 blue drums of food waste per day. The robotic arm will complement the manual processing of these. The robot guides the incoming food waste from the barrels to the sorting and grinding system. After pouring, it can determine by weighing whether the barrel has been emptied properly or whether extra help is needed to empty it. If the keg is properly emptied, it is placed on the conveyor of our automatic keg washing system, where a pre-washing process cleans out any debris left in the keg, which is then returned to the grinding hopper to ensure nothing is wasted.

The first stage of the grinding hopper is a sorting belt, where inappropriate materials are sorted by hand. For example, knives or forks often end up in the barrel, so a metal detector is built into the belt. From the sorting belt, the waste flows into a grinder, which can grind the food waste into a size that can be used more efficiently in biogas plants.
The sorted, shredded food waste is transported to biogas plants in closed, containerised trucks for recovery. Biogas production results in renewable energy, electricity and heat. The industrial robotic arm can process up to 1,000-1,200 barrels per day, increasing the capacity of the plant.

Program Impact and Results:

Over the past years, the amount of food waste collected has gradually increased, and in 2022, Biofilter Zrt. has processed nearly 10,000 tonnes of food waste, of which 100% has been biogas. This is the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of nearly 6,500 households in renewable energy production. Biofilter Zrt. is constantly striving to achieve new milestones in environmental protection and efficiency and to support the implementation of the circular economy and the development of renewable energy sources.

Keywords:

circular economy, food waste, digitalization