Lancashire delighted with PFI progress

Having signed the 25-year deal with Lancashire county council and Blackpool county council in March 2007, Australian firm Global Renewables – which is leading a consortium including Bovis Lend Lease, ISKA GmbH, Sorain Cecchini Techno SRL, and Churngold North West Limited – is on target to deliver two sites capable of handling over 600,000 tonnes of household waste a year by the planned date of 2010.

Work on facilities at Leyland near Preston and Thornton near Blackpool is continuing with steelwork now up on the 12 hectare Thornton site and cladding about to take place. Once complete, the two facilities will use non-thermal “Urban Resources – Reduction, Recovery and Recycled” (UR-3R) technology to process mixed residual waste into biogas fuel and compost.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Dick Ellis, head of the waste services programme at Lancashire county council, said: “The county council is delighted. Anyone who goes and visits the site can't help but be impressed. The work is progressing very well, we are delighted, and things are moving along as you would expect.”

Facility

The 14.6 acre Leyland facility – built on the former site of British Leyland trucks – is intended to house one of the UK's ‘most environmentally friendly waste treatment facilities', receiving 305,000 tonnes of garden and kitchen waste, kerbside-sorted recyclables and residual waste to be reclaimed or turned into renewable energy and a high quality compost.

Upon admittance to the £125 million facility, the garden and kitchen waste will be sent for composting, while the recyclables will sent to a MRF. The residual waste will be delivered to a reception hall, where the UR-3R technology recovers the inorganic material from the residual waste before the mainly organic remains are sent to percolators to be washed before being sent for composting.

Work on the Thornton facility, which is intended to treat 276,000 tonnes of waste from the Blackpool, Wyre and Lancashire Fylde area with an MBT plant and composting facility, is on schedule to be operational by 2010.

Education

Global Renewables highlighted that 82% of all waste produced so far in construction of the sites has been recycled or reprocessed and, in partnership with the Lancashire Waste Partnership, the company has set up a number of environmental education and waste minimisation schemes for the local community.

David Singh, managing director of Global Renewables, said: “This is a very significant PFI which will revolutionise the way waste is handled in Lancashire. The county has chosen innovative and forward thinking approach, which will set the standard for all other authorities.

“That we are on target is very good news for the county and a reflection of the dedication and hard work that been put into delivering the contract,” he added.