The company – a subsidiary of HLC Environmental Projects -which already operates an incinerator, dirty MRF and composting facility at Crmlyn Burrows in South Wales, could have the new facility up and running by 2007.
The firm originally planned to build a 25 million waste management site, including an incinerator at a site on the Wrexham industrial estate. But the site was purchased by another organisation last year. By then, HLC had already decided to shelve plans for an incinerator because of local community opposition.
”At the time we originally submitted our proposals, gasification and pyrolysis was not sufficiently developed to be viable, but now the technology has moved forward.“
– Judith Harper, HLC
Instead, the firm is looking to develop a pyrolysis and gasification plant. A new site has been found on the same industrial site, 500 yards from the originally proposed piece of land. The new site used to house the Owens Corning fibre glass factory, which closed two years ago.
HLC's new site is to be developed into a 'Resource Recovery Centre', which will feature a materials recycling facility to sort recyclable household waste from Wrexham's 80,000 homes.
Technology
The centre would also include a “dirty” MRF to sort mixed waste, and an in-vessel composting plant. The site's pyrolysis and gasification facility is to have technology provided by Avonmouth-based Compact Power. The process uses residual waste, which has been compacted into an RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) to power the plant, which in turn provides electricity.
The company has said that “every scrap of suitable material from the waste stream will be recycled or composted, and electricity generated from as much residual waste as possible via the highly advanced pyrolysis and gasification treatment.”
The company estimated that, following the treatment at the RRC, only one fifth of waste will end up in landfill sites, compared to the current level of 85%.
Commercial
As well as Wrexham's household waste, the 18 Hectare centre would also treat some commercial waste at the site initially, the company said.
HLC project manager Judith Harper explained: “We will have capacity take 160,000 tonnes of waste. Originally the majority will come from Wrexham council and the remaining capacity will be used for commercial waste.
“We predict that the growth in waste arisings over the 25 year contract will mean that eventually our full capacity will be taken up by Wrexham's household waste,” she added.
HLC would not disclose the proposed cost of the Resource Recovery Centre under its new plans, but revealed that the figure would be higher than the original 25 million.
Strategy
The proposals have now been submitted to the council planning authority by HLC, which was awarded preferred bidder status for a contract to develop and implement an overall waste strategy for Wrexham in 1998 under a Private Finance Initiative deal.
Improvements to civic amenity sites and the provision of neighbourhood recycling sites are also in the plans.
Commenting on the decision to switch from incineration, Ms Harper said: “At the time we originally submitted our proposals, gasification and pyrolysis was not sufficiently developed to be viable, but now with companies like Compact Power the technology has moved forward and has an economic and viable purpose.”
She added that the plant would produce less and cleaner emissions than an incinerator and said she believed gasification and pyrolysis plants would become more popular with local authorities needing to meet difficult targets.
HLC will now embark on a major consultation over the plans with the public of Wrexham.
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