Powerday to boost RDF output with second MRF

London-based recycling company Powerday is set to ramp up its production of refuse-derived fuel with the development of its second materials recycling facility (MRF) in the capital.

The construction waste recycling specialist, which already has a large materials recycling facility (MRF) in Willesden, North London, has started groundwork on a new 10 million facility in Enfield.

Powerday currently operates a transfer station at Enfield and the new facility, targeted for completion in April 2015, will recycle and process 330,000 tonnes of construction and commercial waste from the London area each year, including materials such as wood, plastic and rubble. The automated processes at the new plant will mirror those at the Willesden facility.

We are very happy to commence construction works on this site, said Powerday managing director, Mark Bensted. The plant will provide an environmental solution which supports industry in the capital and avoids the additional transport distances and environmental impact involved in landfill.

Enfield also sits at the heart of the North London Waste Plan area and development of new infrastructure is at the heart of the plan.

RDF

The Enfield facility will extract recyclables from the waste before turning the residual fraction into a refuse-derived fuel, which will be exported to European energy markets in the short term. However, Powerday hopes that in the longer term it will find markets in the UK.

At present the company said it had a number of short and medium term RDF supply contracts with some short term export contracts into European markets as well as longer term supply contracts into the emerging EfW market in the UK.

The company explained: Given the advanced processing and fuel capability that Powerday has at its North West London plant as well as this new plant (currently under construction in Brimsdown, North East London), the company will be very well placed to increase its annual tonnage of RDF/SRF exported in the short term into the European market, and then into the emerging EfW market here in the UK which will see modern energy plants coming on stream within the next 2/3 years.

Planning

According to Powerday, the Enfield facility is an example of the sites identified in the North London Waste Plan which are needed to process the amount of waste being produced, increase recycling and find alternatively ways of using and treating waste in North London.

The North London Waste Plan will set out the planning framework for waste management in the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest for the next 15 years up to 2027. It will identify sites for waste management use and set out policies for determining waste planning applications.