The Channel Island has taken delivery of the recycling machine from Somerset-based Middleton Engineering – in a sizeable investment for such a community of just 2,200 population.
 Alderney representatives visited Severnside Recycling's Plymouth MRF to see ME70 balers in operation |
The Islanders have to ship all of their recyclables to the mainland UK or elsewhere, but the new baler will allow Alderney to improve the efficiency of storing and transporting waste.
As a result, it will cut down on its landfill needs.
The new ME70 baler will handle card, paper, plastic and cans. It will mean 16 times the amount of material can be exported for recycling in every 20-foot container.
Tim Birmingham, the State of Alderney's Superintendent of Works, said: “To any council in England to spend 50,000 on a modern baler would be peanuts, but for us it's a huge chunk of our annual budget, so it has to be right.”
Shipping
Previously the island's recyclables were taken by Channel Seaways, a local shipping company, for free. But with waste volumes rising, the number of required empty containers needing delivery back to Alderney had become unmanageable.
The materials recycled from Alderney households is sent to Severnside Recycling, which helped the island to decide on the type of baler to use. Mr Birmingham visited Severnside's materials recycling facility in Plymouth, where three of the machines are installed, before deciding on the machine for Alderney.
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“It is a sensible size,” Mr Birmingham commented, adding: “You can always add on more conveyors.”
Alderney generates around 350 to 400 tonnes of recyclable materials in a year, mostly in the summer when the population is inflated by tourists.
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