Minister opens Keenan composting site expansion
27 September 2011
A £1.3 million expansion of Keenan Recycling’s New Deer in-vessel composting facility in Aberdeenshire was officially opened yesterday (September 26) by Scottish environment secretary Richard Lochhead.
The expansion, which was part funded by the Scottish Government, has added 15,000 tonnes-a-year of composting capacity to the facility’s existing operations by adding six more vertical composting units (VCUs) to the 12 already operating on site.
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- Unveiling the new expansion are (l-r) Scotland’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs and environment, Richard Lochhead MSP; Keenan Recycling managing director, Grant Keenan; and, Keenan Recycling director, Gregor Keenan
According to Keenan, this means the site is now the largest operation in Europe using VCU technology, and the joint largest one in the world, alongside a facility in Canada.
Keenan currently processes more than 70,000 tonnes-a-year of both household and commercial organic waste at the New Deer facility, 30,000 tonnes of which is processed through the existing VCUs.
Material is sourced from food and garden waste treatment contracts with both Aberdeen city council and Moray council, while the facility also reprocesses garden waste from Aberdeenshire council.
Keenan also runs a commercial food waste collection and treatment service – the first of its kind in the North East of Scotland – which was formally launched by Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond in June 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Lochhead
Commenting on the significance of the New Deer expansion, Mr Lochhead said: “After the recent expansion, Keenan Recycling has firmly placed itself at the forefront of modern waste management – where waste is a resource, something of value, rather than a problem.
“A zero waste Scotland offers significant economic and environmental opportunities, and having Europe’s largest vertical composting unit – joint largest in the word – on our doorstep is proof of that.”
Under Scotland’s ‘Zero Waste’ plans, all the country’s local authorities are set to have to introduce separate food waste collections by 2013. Mr Lochhead highlighted the £4 million being made available by the Scottish Government through Zero Waste Scotland to help councils provide collection services.
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- Also marking the opening are (l-r): Keenan Recycling managing director, Grant Keenan; Keenan Recycling account executive, Claire Leven; Scotland’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs and environment, Richard Lochhead MSP; Keenan Recycling director Gregor Keenan; and, Zero Waste Scotland’s head of market development, Louise McGregor
Zero Waste Scotland provided £482,000 to help fund Keenan’s expansion, with the money also going towards a second food waste collection lorry and additional processing equipment.
Grant Keenan, managing director of Keenan Recycling, said: “The support from Zero Waste Scotland has been critical in the development of our business both in terms of scale and timing.
“The company has been able to develop more rapidly, increase capacity and provide a sustainable outlet for three local authorities and numerous businesses.”
Construction work on the latest part of the company’s expansion plan, which was originally unveiled in January 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story), was completed in May 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Keenan said the company was looking to expand its services into other areas, including Inverness and Dundee in 2012/13. He also highlighted the benefits of the BSI-accredited compost produced by the firm’s processes, 95% of which goes to local farms.
Moray council
Yesterday’s opening event comes just two weeks after Keenan announced that it would now be treating food as well as garden waste from Moray council. The deal means that the 9,000 tonnes-a-year of garden waste delivered by the local authority is being augmented by an additional 5,000 tonnes-a-year of organic waste material.
It came as the council rolled out a kerbside food waste collection service to 34,500 households in August, with 42,000 households expected to receive collected by the end of the year.
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Commenting on this, Mr Keenan said: “Introducing food waste to the green recycling in Moray will divert a large amount of waste from landfill on an annual basis. Residents can now put all their household food waste in with their garden waste for kerbside collection, which is then recycled into high quality compost.
“Local authorities across Scotland are up against some tough targets to reduce waste to landfill figures and this service goes a long way to help meet them.”
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Also marking the opening are (l-r): Keenan Recycling managing director, Grant Keenan; Keenan Recycling account executive, Claire Leven; Scotland’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs and environment, Richard Lochhead MSP; Keenan Recycling director Gregor Keenan; and, Zero Waste Scotland’s head of market development, Louise McGregor
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