FCC Environment is conducting an investigation into a fire that broke out at its mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant in Wrexham yesterday (April 15), which is currently under construction.
Six fire crews from North Wales Fire & Rescue Service were called to the facility on Wrexham Industrial Estate in Bryn Lane at 11.56am.
The fire had been extinguished by late afternoon, and is known to have affected the unfinished area of the building containing the conveyor belt.
The blaze did not involve any waste as the MBT has yet to begin receiving material, and there were no reported injuries.
Meanwhile, FCC Environment is expected to announce shortly whether the damage will delay completion of the MBT plant, which was due to open at the end of 2014.
Paul Stokes, head of safety, health, environment and quality at FCC Environment, said: Fire crews have now fully extinguished the fire and there are no reported injuries. The Environment Agency has been informed and there are not thought to be any environmental issues. There was no waste within the facility at the time.
FCC Environment takes health and safety very seriously; we will be conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire and will implement any necessary measures to ensure a similar situation does not occur in the future.
Contract
The MBT facility is part of the 17 million Wrexham Recycling Park development, which itself is part of a 25-year PFI contract between FCC and Wrexham borough council signed in 2007 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The site is already home to an in-vessel composting facility and a materials recycling facility (MRF), which sorts commingled recyclables from the councils three household recycling centres at Plas Madoc, Brymbo and Bryn Lane.
The MBT will have the capacity to process up to 75,000 tonnes of residual household waste collected by the council and produce refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for the 300 million Ferrybridge energy-from-waste facility also currently under development in West Yorkshire.
Runcorn
As the Ferrybridge facility is not expected to be completed until next year, Wrexham borough council has entered into an interim agreement with Viridor and the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority to send between 20-25,000 tonnes of RDF to the Runcorn EfW facility that opened last month (see letsrecycle.com story).
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