The 1.3 million plant has been established by Bryn Compost Ltd at Gelliargwellt Farm, at Gelligaer near Caerphilly, to take organic waste collected from 30,000 households in the Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen areas.
Torfaen council has rolled out a new twin bin collection scheme for 23,000 of its households in advance of the plant's official opening next month. The households will be separating kitchen and garden waste through the scheme.
Merthyr Tydfil has added kitchen waste to its existing garden waste collections in order to feed the plant.
The tunnel-based in-vessel system will process food waste to the standards required by law for treating animal by-products.
Alun Price, director of Bryn Compost, said: “Because of the new animal by-product laws that have been introduced, any food waste has to be composted in a closed-in vessel. Ours is the first of its kind in the region.
“Residents in Merthyr Tydfil and Torfaen, now have the potential to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill in South East Wales by up to 20,000 tonnes a year. We are looking forward to making sure that residents' waste is turned into good quality compost,” he added.
Funding
The plant has been supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, Wales Environment Trust. It has also received funding from the European Union through Objective One and Welsh Assembly grants.
Bryn Compost's facility is one of three Regional Demonstration Facilities being developed in Wales.
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Paul Roberts, compost co-ordinator at Wales Environment Trust, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support this project as it aims to provide the environmental infrastructure that is needed for Wales to achieve its tough waste management targets.
“We sincerely hope the project is a success and look forward to seeing more facilities of this type opening across Wales,” he added.
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