The County Durham Environmental Trust (CDENT) is funding the research and development initiative with one of the largest awards under the Landfill Tax credits scheme at 1,066,000. Support is coming from the County Durham Waste Management Company.
The plans are being development for a “revolutionary” aerobic digester pilot plant which aims to turn 5,000 tonnes of household rubbish every year into “compost and recyclable bi-products”. The plant is due to be operational in November 2001 and could see full scale plants handling over 50,000 tonnes a year.
Research will be carried out at Newcastle University and its regional innovation centre.
Dr Les Grant, chief executive of Durham County Waste, which is responsible for household waste disposal in County Durham, Darlington, South Tyneside and in parts of Sunderland, said he was delighted at the funding. “This really is ground-breaking research that, if successful, will contribute in a major way to the achievement of the government’s long term target of recycling 60% of all municipal waste.”
The process will see waste loaded onto a shredder which works at a slow speed and high torque. The waste, which will include carpet and hard items such as brick and metal, will pass onto a conveyor for weighing and feeding into a digestor for composting.
Revolutionary
Durham County Waste say that the digestor unit is the most revolutionary part of the whole process.
“The Contained in Vessel Indigenous Composting (CIVIC) patented system works on the principle of aerobic digestion by controlling temperature, air and moisture in a tall tower separated into discrete levels.”
Karl Shaw, manager of CPS Civic, manufacturers of the digester, who are closely involved in the project, said that once the waste achieved a certain level of decomposition it passes through to the next level to compost further. “The gases that result are removed by a fan and treated through a scrubber spray and biological filter system, so eliminating odours from the digester. “Discharged material from the bottom of the tower is then passed through a trommel screen to separate the compost from oversized pieces of unsuitable material, predominantly plastic, and it is at this stage that it is suitable for a number of uses.”
A statement from CDENT said that scientists at Newcastle University are investigating the uses of the resultant compost which is expected to yield about 50% of the weight of the original matter fed in at the start of the process.
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