The enclosed facility on Airfield Industrial Estate in Ashbourne, Derby, will be capable of processing 60,000 tonnes of mixed food waste and green waste each year. It received planning permission last summer and is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.
The material composted on the seven acre site will be sold at garden centres around the UK.
Derby city will be the main council making use of the facility along with South Derby council. Other local authorities are also being offered the chance to use the facility.
Construction of the site is expected to take three months and the councils will begin mixed food and green waste collections in line with the opening of the site. The plant will also accept green waste collected at civic amenity sites.
The waste will be composted in mobile in-vessel containers designed and built by Vital Earth, which are capable of carrying 25 tonnes of material each.
Control
Waste is collected in the containers from the reception area of the site and then transferred to the composting area of the site, where conditions are computer-controlled.
John Wakefield, technical director at Vital Earth said: “The computerised system checks temperatures every five seconds and adjusts fans. I previously worked as a control engineer and so have good experience in this area.”
“We also have two other sites in Lampeter and Market Drayton, so we have good experience through these on how to optimise the system. We also have other sites in the pipeline,” he added.
Letsrecycle.com is holding a special conference on animal by-products and food waste on September 28. For more details see the letsrecycle.com events page
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