The material recycling facility (MRF) was equipped by German company Sutco and built by Okay Engineering. Cleanaway describes the plant as utilising “German know how” which includes PET recycling technology patented by Cleanaway Germany. The MRF is now completed with material successfully being sorted and the London Borough of Havering, one of the principal users of the facility, has been using it since last November.
The plant can sort 50,000 tonnes of material a year over a double shift and all materials are sorted automatically so the only people employed by the plant clear the line rather than sort material. The materials recycling facility includes an automated plastic bottle sorting plant which processes three different types of plastic bottles. The MRF also sorts plastic film, paper, card and cans and deliveries to the plant will be by lorry and via the River Thames.
Remediate
The new materials recycling facility has been built on Cleanaway's Rainham Landfill site at Coldharbour Lane. Landfilling on the site was due to expire in 2002, but the London Borough of Havering granted planning permission for the site to be used for another 12-18 years along with a new material recycling facility. But before the facility could be built, Cleanaway had to remediate and restore a 64-hectare area of contaminated land. The land had been subject to over 70 years of uncontrolled waste deposition (not involving Cleanaway) between 1900 and 1970.
In 1999, MLM Environmental was appointed by Cleanaway to assess the options available to construct the materials recycling facility. The consultants found that ground conditions were extremely poor due to surface loading and consolidation of settlements as a result of leachate extraction which meant that extensive foundation work was needed.
The London Borough of Havering, one of the principal users of the material recycling facility, has introduced a new recycling scheme to increase the amount of waste diverted from landfill to hit government recycling targets and feed the new MRF. Since August 2001, the whole of Havering has been covered by the council's Its in the bag scheme where paper, cans, plastics and textiles are collected from the kerbside for recycling. Clear plastic recyclable sacks are delivered free of charge to residents.
The kerbside recycling scheme has been set up with 2.1 million over the next five years from the Cleanaway Havering Riverside Trust. The Trust distributes landfill tax credits and as well as financing the kerbside scheme, has provided money to landscape the riverside and create wetlands habitats next to the Rainham site.
Although London Remade uses the Rainham site for its composting activities, this is separate from Cleanaway's materials recycling facility.
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