The company will use tons of ‘new’ to power the Bradford plant

A BRADFORD business plans to use the ‘mud’ from the wool it scours to power its factory.

And the changes could prevent 45 tons of “sludge” from being removed from the site each day.

Haworth Scouring, based on Birksland Street on the edge of the city centre, is one of the largest wool scourers in the world and a major employer in Bradford.

Wool from all over the world is cleaned on site, which results in a large amount of waste water and dirt.

The company has now revealed plans to install new tanks that would use this waste for “anaerobic digestion” – a process that creates energy from biological waste.

The application claims this change would help the business move closer to net zero, as well as reduce trips to and from the factory.

Plans submitted to Bradford Council seek permission to install nine tanks and a gas stand at the plant.

The app says: “At Haworth Scouring wool collected from farms around the world is scoured; the mud and residue that is removed from the wool ends up in the wash water.

“The wash water is currently processed to concentrate the organics and solids into a cake and the waste water is discharged into the sewer.

“Effluent water has a biological content with a recorded level of COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand).

“Haworth Scouring discharges this into the main sewer under a permitted discharge agreement (monitored by the Environment Agency). Haworth Scouring is charged for this download.

“The proposed project is to install an anaerobic digestion processing unit to break down most of the organic elements in the wash water, before the concentration process to significantly reduce organics (COD).

“The anaerobic digestion process converts the organics into biogas, which will then be used to replace the electricity and gases currently used to power the site and provide hot water for the scrubbing process.

“This process is green electricity generated without the need for fossil fuels.

“The introduction of this process will reduce transport to and from the site by up to 40%. Currently, 45 tonnes of sludge is removed from the site every day.

“This new process will ensure that the water is much cleaner and is the next step towards recycling and becoming net zero.”

The Environment Agency supported the proposals.

A decision on the application is expected next month.