THE University of York and Yorkshire Water are working together to establish a Centre of Excellence for anaerobic digestion (AD) research as part of a new £1.2m project.

Over the next four years the additional funding will advance the ground-breaking research with the creation of a Centre of Excellence for AD research.

Yorkshire Water has committed £600,000 to the project, which will transform AD performance, delivering environmental and financial benefits, for Yorkshire Water and its customers.

Tom Hall, Yorkshire Water head of bio-resources, said: "We currently treat around 145,000 dry tonnes of sewage sludge each year and this is likely to increase to around 180,000 dry tonnes by 2035 given population growth in our region and new regulations linked to phosphorus removal.

“This collaboration with the University of York is a vital part of Yorkshire Water's programme for improving the environment and supporting the Company's commitment to net zero carbon emissions.”

The organisations first collaborated in 2016 and delivered the globally unique System-60 AD research facility in the Department of Biology at the University of York.

The work conducted during the new project will strengthen the university's bio/circular economy research portfolio, contributing to the regional aspiration to become carbon neutral.

Professor James Chong, of the University of York Department of Biology, said: "I'm very excited that a long-term partnership has developed from the work we have carried out with Yorkshire Water.

"This new project represents an important opportunity to develop both our fundamental understanding of the biology underpinning anaerobic digestion and how we translate this knowledge into real world applications, as a critical part of the UK and global drive towards net zero."

Professor Matthias Ruth, pro vice chancellor for research at the University of York, said that the new partnership will strengthen the bond between the institutions and represents a new chapter in the organisations' relationship.

Yorkshire Water said it would welcome collaborative input from other water companies and plans to scale up the research programme, expand the lab and pilot facilities and build a large-scale test facility have also been proposed as part of a planned submission to the Ofwat Innovation fund in November.