The council explained that the contract will see Levenseat recover material for recycling and reuse at its Falkirk facility near Polmont. The remaining waste is then to be sent to its energy from waste (EfW) facility at Forth, Lanarkshire, the local authority added. The move is set to help fulfil the Scottish government’s requirement of diverting biodegradable waste from landfill by 31 December 2025.
The council said it uplift and collects bulky waste from either the kerbside bulky uplift service or through deposits at the household recycling centres. This is then transported to Levenseat’s Lathallan site at Falkirk for processing.
The council explained that the facility separates resources such as wood, metal, plastics and aggregates, with any remaining unrecyclable material then prepared into a fuel and used to make energy at the Levenseat Renewable Energy Power Plant.
MRF
Levenseat has acquired the materials recycling facility (MRF) with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year from Avondale Environmental last May. Following acquisition, Levenseat pledged to invest £4 million into the facility’s redevelopment, part of which was a plan to widen the range of accepted materials to include bulky waste. The site was also set to process mixed household, commercial, industrial, construction and demolition waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
Councillor Bryan Deakin, Falkirk council’s spokesperson for climate change, commented: “This new facility available within the Falkirk council area, provides local employment opportunity and contributes significantly towards the council’s carbon emission reductions in line with the council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.
“It offers a much safer and environmentally friendly way of treating waste than landfill disposal which is especially harmful to the environment. It is a very modern and hi-tech solution to what is a challenging problem. I am proud that Falkirk is one of the first councils to be taking these steps.”
EfW
Levenseat has also brought the operations of its EfW plant at Forth, Lanarkshire in-house after the plant’s previous operator left the UK EfW market. Last month, the company announced that the gasifier will now be operated by Levenseat Renewable Energy Ltd , which was set up in 2015 to deliver the plant (see letsrecycle.com story).
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