The Alton MRF provides Hampshire with the capacity to sort about 85,000 tonnes of paper, cardboard, plastics and metals collected on commingled collections from households across the county.
 HRH the Duke of Gloucester said he was impressed by the Alton plant as he officially opened it yesterday |
Installed by engineering firm OKLM, the 14 million plant includes 4.2 million of new equipment, with standard mechanical sorting technology as well as advanced Titech optical sorting technology. The plant has created 45 jobs, including 15 sorting staff.
After touring the plant yesterday, His Royal Highness said he was impressed by the Alton MRF.
He said to waste management firm Onyx and Hampshire's Project Integra waste partnership: “When you say that you are at the forefront of Europe, I assume you are making all the other counties grind their teeth. But at least if they do have you to follow, it will be easier for them to estimate costs and what is needed – so you are to be congratulated.”
Along with the MRF in Portsmouth, the Alton facility means Hampshire now has sorting capacity for about 157,000 tonnes of recyclables each year.
The county's waste partnership – which includes the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton as well as the county and districts – is aiming to reach a 40% recycling rate for its annual 900,000 tonnes of household waste. The county recycled about 27% of household waste in 2003/04.
Cyrille du Peloux, Onyx chief executive, said the county could be “rightly proud” of the investment in new infrastructure. Mr du Peloux said: “Using the most advanced optical and sorting technology the Alton MRF will make sure that 85,000 tonnes coming through this plant each year is recycled and the maximum amount of material re-used.”
Materials
Of the material sorted at the plant, paper goes to the UPM Shotton paper mill in North Wales and to the Aylesford Newsprint mill in Kent. Steel cans go to British Steel Recycling in South Wales, while aluminium cans go to the Novelis Recycling plant in Warrington.
Two types of plastics – HDPE and PET – are sorted at the Alton MRF, with HDPE being recycled into drainage pipes and PET being turned into polyester thread and ultimately into fleece jackets.
 The Alton materials recycling facility requires 15 staff to sort materials, but also uses advanced automatic sorting technology |
Glass is not processed in the Alton plant, to maintain the quality of recycled paper, Onyx said, although the company collects glass at CA sites across the county, which goes to Recresco (formerly Midland Glass) for reprocessing.
The Alton plant generates between 12-15% of rejected material that has to go to landfill, and has had difficulties with residents putting materials into plastic bags. However, Onyx project director John Collis said a team of hand-sorters had been put in place specifically to cope with plastic bags.
Campaign
The county is also hoping to reduce the rejection rate through an educational campaign that has been launched by former Olympic athlete Roger Black.
Cllr Tim Knight, the executive member for the environment at Hampshire county council, said: “The next challenge will be to make better use of the recycling facilities, with more education for people in Hampshire through the Recycle Hampshire campaign, which will not only raise awareness of recycling but also change people's behaviour for good.”
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Under the 25-year waste disposal contract Onyx has held with Project Integra since 1996, the company is close to completing a network of new waste treatment facilities. As well as the two MRFs, this network includes three energy-from-waste plants, three composting facilities, nine transfer stations and 26 household waste recycling centres.
The network is nearly up to speed, with energy recovery plants in Portsmouth and Marchwood, near Southampton, now operational. The county is aiming to reduce the amount of material going to landfill to just 20% of its waste, with two of its three landfill sites closing within the next two years.
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