Industrial Symbiosis - GrowHow And Tomatoes!
In 2006, the Billingham Site took a bold step in a new direction by teaming up with a tomato company from Yorkshire - John Baarda Ltd. The result, a record breaking 25 acre greenhouse was built by Baarda in Billingham. A planned Phase 2, will extend the greenhouses to 38 acres.
Initial discussions began when the Billingham Site began looking at alternative ways of utilising its bi-products and Baarda was looking to expand its tomato growing facilities in the UK. It is a perfect example of "industrial symbiosis". The huge greenhouses can grow over 300 thousand tomato plants at a time using supplies of CO2 and steam, bi-products of GrowHow's nearby manufacturing operations. Billingham Site invested in the scheme by providing the infrastructure to supply and deliver utilities to the Baarda Site.
The glasshouse is anticipated to use upwards of 12,500 tonnes of GrowHow's CO2, which is generated during the manufacture of ammonia. It significantly reduces GrowHow emissions, as the gas could have otherwise have been vented into the atmosphere. The CO2 being produced is manufactured to the most stringent of controls as it is already supplied into the fizzy drink sector and as such meets the high standards of the food industry.
GrowHow generates steam as part of its manufacturing process and is used by Baarda's to heat the greenhouses. It also supplies the glasshouses with electricity meaning that Baarda can benefit from specially agreed rates when creating the required light levels to produce yield 12 months of the year. This allows the greenhouse to be heated and lit sufficiently throughout the winter months to produce tomatoes all year round providing the first ever UK over-wintered tomatoes to supermarket shelves. The complex takes its energy supply via an umbilical corridor stretching nearly 2 kilometres from the centre of GrowHow's operations on the Billingham site.
During winter tomatoes are normally imported from Spain, so as well as the environmental improvements it offers to GrowHow, it also has the added benefit of removing 250,000 food miles and the environmental improvements associated with that.
