The plant, to be built at the Pitsea landfill, has been proposed by waste management firm Cleanaway. It will process about 15,000 tonnes of household waste a year, separating recyclable material and subjecting remaining biodegradable to an airing and composting process to produce a stable material to be used as landfill cover.
The process involved in the new plant is called “Aerox” waste treatment, and results from research at Southampton University funded through the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.
The project is the culmination of research from Ben Purcell, now hired as a consultant by Cleanaway, and Nick Walker, now Cleanaway project manager. The research aimed to find a system to turn landfill from a largely anaerobic process into an aerobic process, injecting air to maximise the breakdown of landfilled material.
Targets
Cleanaway said its new plant would also remove recyclable materials such as steel, aluminium and plastic, as well as reducing the biodegradable matter in the waste to help meet the county's waste management targets.
The plant at Pitsea Hall Lane has been given permission for a trial period “not exceeding five years” by Essex county council's Development and Regulation Committee to treat material that is currently being taken to the Pitsea landfill. The proposed site is immediately behind an existing composting operation.
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Plans for the facility include building two reception and processing bays, which would have a perforated floor to allow waste to be blown through shredded waste material. Within the bays, material would be turned regularly to assist aeration. “Dense organic” residues from the process would then be used in the restoration of the neighbouring landfill.
Cleanaway said construction of the plant should begin before the end of the year, and results of its five-year trial would be made publicly available “so that other authorities can benefit from this new knowledge if they wish to do so”.
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