The waste management and minerals extraction company has applied to Wokingham District Council for permission to turn the Star Works site at Knowl Hill into a facility capable of handling 150,000 fridges a year.
Commenting on the plans, Grundon estates project manager Owen Dimond said: “Initially the building will be used to recycle fridges to meet the much-publicised UK demand. When the EC Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive is introduced in 2004, the facility will also be able to recycle other electrical items such as computers, televisions and washing machines.”
If the council gives the go-ahead, the plant will make use of German technology from the SULO Group and is expected to recover around 6,000 tonnes of material annually including metals, plastics, glass and insulation foam. CFCs will also be removed from the appliances and treated in a CFC recovery unit.
The site for the new plant is alongside landfill operations that have been running since 1999. Fridges for the new plant would be delivered in containers holding around 130 units each and the company has calculated that around seven vehicles a day will be needed to feed the facility.
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