UK Anaerobic Digestion Statistics 2026
These UK anaerobic digestion statistics bring together the latest figures on plants, biogas, biomethane, food waste, policy and farm feedstocks, each linked to its original source.
Last updated: 7 October 2026. Compiled by Steve Last, Chartered Waste Manager and Chartered Environmental Engineer, IPPTS Associates. Every figure below links to its original source, shows its year, and carries a one-line interpretation. Where sources disagree, both figures are shown.
Key takeaways: UK anaerobic digestion in numbers
- Over 750 AD plants operate in the UK, digesting about 36 million tonnes of organic material a year (ADBA, March 2026).
- The industry produces an estimated 21 TWh of biogas a year, with around 7 TWh injected into the gas grid as biomethane, roughly 1% of UK gas demand (ADBA, POST and NESO, 2026).
- Weekly household food waste collections became a legal requirement in England from 31 March 2026, yet separately collected food waste was only 535,000 tonnes in 2024 (Defra).
- The Green Gas Support Scheme closes to new applications on 31 March 2028, with a commissioning deadline of 31 March 2030, and no successor has been announced (Ofgem and ADBA, 2026).
- NESO’s scenarios point to 64 TWh of biomethane by 2050, about a tenfold increase on today (POST, July 2026).
On this page: Plants and industry size | Biogas and biomethane | Policy and support | Food waste and collections | Farms, feedstocks and methane | Regulation and digestate | Why the numbers differ | FAQ | Cite this page
UK AD plants and industry size
| Statistic | What this means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Over 750 AD plants operational across the UK (March 2026) | A mature industry, but counts vary by definition, so always say which source you are using. | ADBA |
| 754 plants in operation, of which 597 generate electricity and 146 upgrade biogas (2026) | Fewer than one in five sites upgrade to biomethane. That ratio is where both the growth and the policy risk sit. | MRW |
| About 36 million tonnes of organic material digested each year (2026) | This is material kept out of landfill, where it would emit methane. The climate case for AD starts here. | ADBA |
| An estimated 21 TWh of biogas produced each year, used in CHP or upgraded to biomethane (2026) | Roughly a third reaches the grid as biomethane. The rest is burned on site for power and heat. | ADBA |
| Industry grew 5% in the previous year as closures of older, smaller plants were outweighed by large grid-injection units (reported March 2026) | Fewer, bigger plants: growth is now coming from gas-to-grid sites, not new small units. | ADBA |
| About 4,800 people employed in the UK AD and biogas industry (2026) | A small workforce today compared with the 60,000 jobs the industry projects by 2050. | ADBA |
| AD delivers savings of about 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions each year (2026) | Modest today. The industry’s case rests on scaling up, not on current output. | ADBA |
Want the market structure behind these numbers, including who owns and operates the plants? See The Anaerobic Digestion Market Report 2026.
Biogas and biomethane
| Statistic | What this means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| About 7 TWh of biomethane produced a year, enough to heat roughly two thirds of a million homes (March 2026) | Real, but small beside 689 TWh of UK gas demand: about 1%. | ADBA, POST |
| Grid injection of 6 TWh a year, around 1% of gas demand (NESO analysis, as reported 2026) | Estimates for the same year differ by 1 to 2 TWh depending on who counts and how, so cite the source with the figure. | Bioenergy Insight (NESO) |
| Biogas output peaked in 2018 at over 35 TWh and stabilised around 33 TWh in 2024, with 8 TWh upgraded to biomethane (Regen analysis, September 2025) | Total biogas output has been flat to falling since 2018 despite policy support. The growth is in upgrading, not in raw volume. | Bioenergy Insight (Regen) |
| 689 TWh total UK methane (natural gas) demand in 2025 | The denominator that puts every biomethane figure in proportion. | POST (citing DUKES) |
| Industry estimate of output rising to around 9 TWh by winter 2026/27 (industry estimate, March 2026) | A near-term industry estimate, not a government forecast. It depends on the regulatory changes ADBA has asked for. | ADBA |
| Denmark meets around 40% of its gas demand from biomethane (2026) | Same technology, very different policy outcome. The UK is nowhere near what is achievable. | ADBA |
| One NESO Future Energy Scenario requires 64 TWh of biomethane by 2050, a tenfold increase | Feasible on paper, but NESO itself flags land use and feedstock competition as the constraints. | POST (citing NESO) |
| NESO’s highest-growth feedstock potential: grassland 29 TWh, rotational crops 27 TWh, sequential crops 17 TWh, agricultural residues 15 TWh, livestock waste 11 TWh | Waste alone does not get the UK there. The largest potential sits in grass and crops, which is why the food-versus-fuel debate matters. | Bioenergy Insight (NESO) |
| Industry projection for 2050: over 100 TWh of biomethane, 20 to 50% of UK gas demand, 60,000 jobs, 27 Mt CO2e saved, 6.8 million homes heated | These are trade-body projections, not government targets. Read them as ambition. | ADBA |
| Moor Bioenergy at Gonerby Moor has added almost 100 GWh to the grid since opening in February 2025, avoiding around 17,000 tonnes CO2e (as of February 2026) | Billed as the UK’s first unsubsidised industrial-scale biomethane supply, it shows a route to an industrial buyer as support schemes wind down. | Healthcare Digital |
Policy and support
| Statistic | What this means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Green Gas Support Scheme: new applications close 31 March 2028; DESNZ announced on 10 December 2025 it intends to extend the commissioning deadline to 31 March 2030 | Anyone planning a GGSS plant has a hard application date and about two further years to commission. | Ofgem |
| No successor to the GGSS has been announced (reported 2026) | Developers cannot finance long-life assets without knowing what follows. This is the sector’s biggest policy risk. | Resource |
| Over 400 plants are expected to reach the end of their support periods within ten years | Operators need a plan for ageing assets: re-power, upgrade, or close. | Resource |
| Combined RTFO, GGSS and RHI support expected to deliver around 8 TWh of biomethane injections by 2030 (DESNZ call for evidence, 2024) | Only a modest step up from today’s 7 TWh, which shows how limited current ambition is. | Resource (citing DESNZ) |
| GGSS-supported plants will produce enough green gas at peak to heat around 250,000 homes | Useful, not transformational. It is a quarter of a million homes in a country of tens of millions. | GOV.UK |
| GGSS requires producers to generate at least 50% of their biomethane from waste or residue feedstocks | Policy steers towards waste, so feedstock contracts matter as much as the digester itself. | EFRA Committee correspondence |
| Under the UK ETS, biomethane qualifies as zero emissions only if supplied by a dedicated pipeline; grid-injected biomethane does not (July 2026) | The EU scheme credits grid-injected biomethane, the UK does not. That is a competitiveness gap the industry is lobbying to close. | POST |
Food waste and collections
| Statistic | What this means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 10.2 million tonnes of food waste a year in the UK (WRAP, July 2025) | A large feedstock pool, but prevention ranks above AD in the food waste hierarchy, so more tonnage is not an unqualified win. | POST (citing WRAP) |
| 58% of UK food waste comes from households | Households are the biggest single source, which is why weekly collections matter. | POST (citing WRAP) |
| Weekly household food waste collections required in England from 31 March 2026 (Environment Act 2021); some authorities agreed transitional arrangements | Expect rising food waste tonnage and more demand for AD capacity through 2026/27. | GOV.UK, POST |
| £295 million of capital funding for councils to introduce weekly food waste collections | This paid for collection vehicles and caddies, not treatment capacity. | GOV.UK |
| 535,000 tonnes of separately collected food waste in England in 2024, up 6.7% from 501,000 tonnes in 2023 | Growing, but from a low base. The 2026 reform is aimed squarely at that gap. | Defra |
| Separately collected food waste was just 2.4% of England’s waste from households in 2024 and 5.6% of household recycling, up from 1.3% of recycling in 2010 | Most household food waste still goes into the black bin. That is the opportunity and the challenge in one number. | Defra |
| England’s waste from households recycling rate was 43.8% in 2024, down 0.2 percentage points on 2023 | Recycling has stalled. Food waste is one of the few streams with clear room to grow. | Defra |
| WRAP reported an operational capacity of 3.2 million tonnes that could process food waste in 2019 | That figure is out of date. The House of Lords committee has asked government to check capacity is keeping pace with collections. | POST (citing WRAP) |
Farms, feedstocks and methane
| Statistic | What this means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 13% of English farm holdings processed waste, crops or feedstocks by AD in 2025, up from 9% in 2021 | Adoption is rising slowly. Most farms still digest nothing. | Defra Farm Practices Survey |
| By material (2025): crops including silage 8%, slurries and manures 7%, other feedstocks from outside the farm 3% | Crops outrank slurry as an on-farm AD feedstock, which is exactly the land-use argument campaigners raise. | Defra Farm Practices Survey |
| In 2022 the waste sector produced 31% of UK methane emissions and livestock 48% | Together that is roughly four fifths of UK methane, which is the whole logic for capturing methane through AD. | POST (citing UK Methane Action Plan) |
| Raw biogas typically contains 50 to 70% methane and 25 to 45% carbon dioxide | Upgrading removes the CO2 and impurities so the gas can enter the grid as biomethane. | POST (citing IEA) |
For how feedstock choice drives biogas yield, plant economics and digestate quality, see Anaerobic Digestion: A Practical Guide to Feedstocks, Biogas, Digestate and Successful AD Plants.
Regulation and digestate
| Fact | What this means | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Plants processing 50,000 tonnes or more of organic waste a year, or near protected areas, may need an environmental impact assessment; most sites need planning permission | Size and location drive consenting risk. Small on-farm plants using only on-farm waste may fall under permitted development. | POST |
| Digestate meeting the end-of-waste test and the PAS 110 standard can be spread on land as fertiliser | Quality assurance is what turns digestate from a waste into a product. Its fertiliser value varies with the feedstock. | GOV.UK, POST |
Why the numbers differ
- Plant counts (750, 754 and similar) can vary with which sites are included, for example water-industry sludge digesters, landfill gas sites and plants still under construction, and with the date of the count.
- Biogas versus biomethane: ADBA describes the 21 TWh figure as biogas. Some secondary sources describe it as biomethane. About 7 TWh is injected into the grid as biomethane.
- Grid injection is quoted as 6, 7 or 8 TWh depending on the source, year and whether the figure is production or injection.
- Industry projections (ADBA’s 2050 figures, the 9 TWh winter estimate) are labelled as such and are not government targets.
- Figures are checked against the linked source on the date at the top. Where a source reports another body’s data (for example NESO or WRAP), the row names both.
Frequently asked questions
How many anaerobic digestion plants are there in the UK?
ADBA reports over 750 operational AD plants in the UK as of March 2026. MRW’s 2026 sector snapshot counts 754, of which 597 generate electricity and 146 upgrade biogas to biomethane.
How much biomethane does the UK inject into the gas grid?
About 7 TWh a year according to ADBA and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, around 1% of UK gas demand. NESO analysis reported in 2026 puts injection at about 6 TWh.
When did weekly food waste collections start in England?
Local authorities in England were required to provide weekly household food waste collections from 31 March 2026, with some authorities agreeing transitional arrangements with government.
When does the Green Gas Support Scheme close?
New applications close on 31 March 2028. DESNZ announced in December 2025 that it intends to extend the commissioning deadline to 31 March 2030. No successor scheme has been announced.
What is digestate?
Digestate is the nutrient-rich material left after anaerobic digestion. When it meets the end-of-waste test and PAS 110, it can be spread on land as a fertiliser. Its properties vary with the feedstock.
Go deeper
- The Anaerobic Digestion Market Report 2026: the market view behind the headline numbers.
- Anaerobic Digestion: A Practical Guide to Feedstocks, Biogas, Digestate and Successful AD Plants: the practical view from feedstock to digestate.
Cite this page
If you use these statistics, please link to this page and cite it as:
Last, S. (2026). UK Anaerobic Digestion Statistics 2026. Anaerobic-Digestion.com. Last updated 7 October 2026. https://www.anaerobic-digestion.com/uk-anaerobic-digestion-statistics/
Corrections and newer figures are welcome. If you spot a statistic that has been superseded, please get in touch so this page stays accurate.
