Where Food Waste Becomes Power

Benerg Oy develops innovative bioreactors that convert food waste first into biogas systems and then into electricity or heat and dry soil improver. Just 10 kg of food waste per day is enough to produce a significant amount of energy per year.

Benerg is a start-up that has graduated from Urban Tech Helsinki, the Startupbootcamp Renewable Energy and Net Zero acceleration program, and has developed modular biogas systems for organisations of all sizes. The device can reduce the amount of biowaste going to landfill or incineration by disposing of all food waste on the premises. At the same time, it generates electricity, which can smooth out consumption price spikes and reduce the need for fossil fuels.

Just 10 kilos of biowaste a day is enough to power up 
more than 10 households for an entire year! 
For customers, this means lower waste disposal costs, 
more self-sufficient energy production 
and concrete climate action. 
Burak Gedik
Benerg Oy 

This was exactly the kind of solution needed at the Vantaa Yhteinen pöytä waste disposal terminal, which collects food donations from all over the city.

Yhteinen pöytä is an operating model created by the City of Vantaa, the parish and a wide network of Vantaa residents to develop community-based food aid and waste food logistics. It aims to reduce food waste and increase the well-being and empowerment of food aid recipients and distributors.

At the heart of the operation is a waste terminal set up by the City of Vantaa, through which a significant amount of food waste passes every year.

Service Manager Soile-Maria Linnemäki says that Yhteinen Pöytä is a very experimental working community, where new ways of working with different partners are constantly piloted with a low threshold.

"
"This experiment came as a nose to the head, when we received an environmental certificate last winter and we are in principle terribly sustainable things, 
so yes, this is such a jewel in the crown.” 
Soile-Maria Linnemäki 
Service Manager, Yhteinen pöytä  

Soile-Maria finds it motivating that experimentation is a continuous learning process, which generates new insights. And when the experiments are communicated as widely as possible, they inspire and encourage others to join in.

Yhteinen pöytä works in partnership with the third sector, the parish, the city's various actors, the welfare area, food businesses and projects. So there are many partners, but that's OK, because cooperation always brings something good and at the same time spreads good things by example.

The pilot with Benerg Oy has been developed together with the Food waste ecosystem project.

The Food Waste Ecosystem - Reducing and recovering food waste project brings together different actors to develop new and innovative solutions to improve resource efficiency, recover food waste and develop methods to share food waste from schools and restaurants.

Project Manager Mari Itkonen is pleased with the progress of the project. "We have succeeded in creating a diverse network of food operators in the capital region who have come up with solutions to waste challenges together."

It is rewarding to see how open discussion 
with the network and an open-minded sniffing of opportunities for collaboration 
can lead to new partnerships and innovative experiments. 
It's great how Yhteinen Pöytä and Benerg Oy 
immediately found a common idea and seized the opportunity!
Mari Itkonen
Project Manager, Food Waste Ecosystem project

Topics of discussion have included the use of coffee grounds, artificial intelligence, logistics and food aid. This experiment will use food surplus from food aid operations that is not fit for human consumption to generate electricity.

The project is a three-year joint project, partly funded by the European Union, to reduce food waste and make use of waste food, in particular in restaurants and catering services, to support regional innovation. The project involves the City of Vantaa, the City of Helsinki, Laurea University of Applied Sciences and the Natural Resources Institute Luke.

Everyone learns through experimentation

Experimentation is learning together at its best. Testbed Vantaa always involves several actors in the design and implementation of the experiment. In addition to Benerg Oy, the Food Waste Ecosystem project, Vantaan yhteinen pöytä and Vivamus Kiinteistöt Oy, which is preparing the electrical and water connections for the device, were involved in this trial.

The contribution of all parties involved, and in particular the employees' positive attitude towards development, made it possible to carry out the experiment. For the city, it is an opportunity to learn something new about bio-waste treatment - and at the same time to support local innovation.

Business Vantaa brings together the City's vitality services, Vantaa Entrepreneurs, Enterprise Vantaa, Vocational College Varian and the Helsinki Region Chamber of Commerce to create a strong network of support for entrepreneurs.

Contact

Burak Gedik, CEO, Benerg Oy
burak@benerg.io
Mari Itkonen, Project Manager, Food waste ecosystem-project
mari.itkonen@vantaa.fi
Pekka Enroth
pekka.enroth@vantaa.fi 
Soile-Maria Linnemäki, Service Manager, Yhteinen pöytä 
soile-maria.linnemaki@vantaa.fi 
Laila Bröcker, Testbed Vantaa -service
laila.brocker@vantaa.fi

Read more
Benerg – Transforming food waste into energy independence!
Yhteinen pöytä
Food waste ecosystem 
Business Vantaa
Testbed Vantaa