Colossal MRF planned for Birmingham

Due to be operational early 2008, the facility has already gained planning permission from the council and a waste management licence from the Environment Agency. It will employ approximately 50 staff.

The MRF will be Greenstar's fourth in England after sites in Lancashire, Manchester and Lincolnshire. It is expected to meet a shortfall of recycling facilities around Birmingham – which currently sends its recyclables to Blackburn.

Greenstar managing director Ian Wakelin said: “The UK has a real deficit in recycling infrastructure, particularly in the Birmingham area, and Greenstar is addressing this need.

“The Aldridge plant will utilise the best technology and equipment available in the world which will enable the plant to separate and sort mixed and kerb-side sorted waste streams, producing a very quality end product,” he added.

Facilities

Greenstar, which used to be called Materials Recovery Ltd, operates 27 waste management facilities throughout the UK and Ireland and handles 1.4 million tonnes of waste a year.

At present, the company manages a materials recycling facility in Blackburn where recyclables are sent from Birmingham and six other local authorities.

The new facility is intended to process both mixed and sorted dry recyclables including all forms of paper and cardboard, plastic bottles, steel and aluminium cans, and wood. It will also be one of the growing number of MRFs in the country able to handle commingled glass bottles, using a fully automated system with conveyor belts and magnets, and will handle commercial and industrial material.

Although the company would not reveal whether it will serve any contracts with local authorities, it is expected to take advantage of the impending pre-treatment regulations, which ban all non-treated waste from landfill from October this year.

Mr Wakelin said: “Commercial and industrial businesses will also be able to use this new facility. The impending pre-treatment legislation, corporate social responsibility issues and diverting waste from landfill are all now boardroom issues.”