We maximize energy efficiency, by using a thick layer of insulating fleece spun from used plastic bottles. The steel skeleton is made from recycled steel. The skin of the building is made from recycled plastic too. Even our concrete is low carbon and uses recycled aggregates.
Our electricity comes from solar panels and battery storage systems. Our heating is solar thermal supplemented with waste heat captured from our plant and equipment. We also have a biomass boiler to fill any gaps. We're in Scotland which unfortunately means that very cold and dark days are normal in winter.
At the start of 2024 we perfected our saltwater anaerobic digestor (SAD). Now, our prawn poo is used to generate biogas to help fuel our biomass boiler. The solid residue from our SAD is stored over winter. It gets sun dried in the summer and fed to our biomass boiler.
From the soap in our toilets to the roof over our heads we find low impact solutions which work. Our goal of genuine sustainability can never be met with a superficial greenwash. Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do.
The simple answer is: because they keep our prawns fresh & cold for double our expected overnight shipping time. Nothing else we have tested (so far) does. So to avoid food waste and the risk of poisoning our customers we still use expanded polystyrene. Ours is 98% air, contains recycled material and is increasingly recyclable.
Being Carbon Neutral seemed a bit too easy, so our farm is arguably Carbon Negative: we absorb more Carbon than we release. We also find ourselves in the bizarre situation of returning water to nature cleaner than it was when we borrowed it. Instead of polluting the environment we turn our waste nutrients into additional crops to sell.