The facility for the Prosiect Gwyrdd partnership,which consists of Cardiff, Newport, Monmouthshire, Vale of Glamorgan and Caerphilly, can handle 350,000 tonnes of waste per annum with 172,000 tonnes of this coming from the five local authorities.
Praising the development of the plant, Mr Jones noted how Wales had reached a 56% recycling rate today which contrasted with 2000 when just 4% was recycled and “96% of the waste was buried in landfill sites”.
The first minister said: “The Wales of today is a very different place from 15 years ago.” And he endorsed the work of the project partnership, saying: “Prosiect Gwyrdd is an excellent example of local authorities working together to deliver this innovative solution. By working together much more can be achieved than it would be by individual authorities.”
Social infrastructure
Ian McAulay, chief executive of Viridor, described the facility as £220 million of investment “in world class social infrastructure.” And, he added: “It is also an investment that sees the end of the term waste, this is a resource facility, and we no longer see waste, we see a resource that creates fuel for 50,000 homes.”
The chair of Prosiect Gywrdd, councillor Bob Derbyshire, said he would like to see the heat used from the plant in district heating in Cardiff. Cllr Derbyshire said: “District heating is very important going forward and I am keen to see Viridor engage in it.”
The importance of recycling the incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and the metals in the ash was highlighted as contributing to meeting Wales’ recycling targets.
Bottom ash
Andrew Morgan of the Welsh Local Government Association reminded the audience that “bottom ash and metals can be counted towards recycling”.
The percentage of IBA and metals to be recycled from Trident Park will be 5-7% of the input. The Welsh Government will count this towards Wales’ 70% recycling target, set in its 2009 strategy. But, it cannot count the recycling towards the EU imposed 50% target by 2020 (which Wales has already reached). Details of the IBA recycling process are still to be announced by Viridor.
The situation is similar in England. Defra explained: “The UK reports recycling rates to the EU under the Waste Framework Directive and there is an EU target for the UK to recycle at least 50 per cent of ‘waste from households’ by 2020. Our reporting to the EU does not include bottom ash.”
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