Hills Waste Solutions has completed construction of a 24 million mechanical biological treatment facility in Westbury, Wiltshire.
The Swindon-based waste and recycling company now expects the plant will be fully operational by September 2013.
The Northacre facility will treat around 60,000 tonnes of solid municipal waste per year, under Hills 25-year residual waste treatment contract with Wiltshire county council, signed in May 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The material is currently being sent to landfill, and it is hoped that when the facility is running at capacity it will help Wiltshire councils move towards its target to divert 80% of the waste it produces from landfill.
Commissioning and safety testing is currently being carried out on the plant, which was originally awarded planning permission in 2009.
RDF
Hills has agreed a contract to supply the 28,000 tonnes of refuse derived fuel (RDF) which will be produced by the plant to utilities firm Remondis, which will use it to generate energy in combined heat and power plants in Oberhausen, Germany and Weurt, Holland.
Hills had originally agreed to send the fuel from the plant to cement producer Lafarges nearby cement works in Westbury, but this fell through after Lafarge ended production at the site in February 2009.
The MBT facility is also expected to reduce vehicle miles as waste will no longer need to be transported to Hills landfill site at Lower Compton 20 miles north of Westbury, where it is sent at present.
Technology
The MBT process will see waste sent to the facility decompose at an accelerated rate inside a sealed building and under negative air pressure to minimise odour. It will then be processed to remove metals for recycling, with the remaining material turned into RDF.
Kit for the Northacre plant was provided by Italian MBT specialist Enstorga Italia, and the facility was built by construction firm Interserve plc. Construction began on the site in July 2011.
Hills currently handles all the residual waste for Wiltshire and also has a contract to run the 11 household waste recycling centres in the county as well as operate kerbside recycling collections.
[…] Hills currently handles all the residual waste for Wiltshire and also has a contract to run the 11 household waste recycling centres in the county as well as operate kerbside recycling collections. via letsrecycle.com […]