The AD SIG’s membership of over 400 includes AD operators, engineers, technologists, scientists, consultants, waste managers, farmers, regulators, and business service providers. The SIG helps form new links and partnerships among its membership via one-to-one introductions and through creating networking opportunities at events such as workshops, webinars, and breakfast meetings.

The SIG shares expert advice and sector intelligence on the latest technologies, challenges, and opportunities for the sector, through speaker panels, site visits, research showcases, and email updates. Topics covered have included: ‘Biogas as transport fuel’, ‘Dealing with difficult feedstocks’ and the ‘AD implications of the Compulsory collection of domestic food waste’.

The AD sector is strongly influenced by the changing policy landscape and the SIG helps its members to both stay updated with and to influence relevant policy and regulation. For example, the SIG has fed into the development of the YNY LEP strategy on the circular economy, and discussions at our ‘Small Scale AD’ event led to feasibility studies being funded to support their decarbonizing Yorkshire strategy.

The AD SIG has helped drive the growth of the region’s reputation as a centre for research and innovation in AD. SIG supported initiatives include:

• ADCEY – Funded support for AD research and development activity for Yorkshire SMEs.
• The THYME Project – This inter-organizational collaboration between the Universities of York, Hull and Teesside has funded 5 projects and catalysed 17 research collaborations on AD topics.
• Anaerobic Digestion Research and Development for Industry at the BDC – Turning Grass to Gas, Novel supplement boosts the biomethane production in anaerobic digestion reactors, Novel microwave pre-treatment of feedstocks for anaerobic digestion.
• Circular Malton & Norton CIC – Exploring the feasibility of setting up a community anaerobic digester to create value from unavoidable waste.
• Exploring the Microbes that Manage our Waste at the Royal Science Summer Exhibition 2021 – developed interactive educational resources on optimizing the AD process.
• BioYorkshire – a 10-year plan to cement the Yorkshire region as the UK’s centre of innovation and commercialization in the bio-economy.