Thousands of tonnes of residual waste from households in Cambridgeshire, which should be treated at a mechanical biological treatment facility at Waterbeach, are set to continue to be landfilled until at least January 2013.
The facility, operated by waste management firm AmeyCespa (East), is out of action after an incident in September 2012 when a beam, linked to a composting wheel, broke (see letsrecycle.com story).
At present, it is not known how or why the beam broke as a report into the incident, which was expected at the end of October, has not been received by the company. Until the cause of the incident is known, the facility will remain out of action.
Whether the report will be disclosed publicly remains uncertain because of potential litigation issues surrounding the matter.
A spokeswoman for AmeyCespa said: This is a complex piece of machinery and as such, the cause of the failure requires a great deal of investigation.
There have been quite a lot of different investigations that have had to be carried out. They are still ongoing and we are still waiting for the report.
In the meantime up to 2,200 tonnes of residual waste sent to the plant each week by Cambridgeshire county council is being sent straight to the landfill at the Waterbeach site, which is also operated by AmeyCespa.
When operational, the MBT plant extracts recyclables from the residual waste using mechanical separation before breaking it down biologically. The process reduces the wastes mass by approximately 50%, with just the remaining compost like output sent to landfill.
Frustrating
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Councillor Mathew Shuter, Cambridgeshires cabinet member for enterprise and waste, said the situation was frustrating but it was an unforeseen failure that no one could have expected.
He said: Some very detailed investigations are going on into what caused the failure. Unfortunately with these things insurance is involved and possible litigation there is a whole range of things that they have had to be sure about.
“Some very detailed investigations are going on into what caused the failure. Unfortunately with these things insurance is involved and possible litigation there is a whole range of things that they have had to be sure about.”
– Cllr Mathew Shuter
At the moment we are unlikely to have any form of operating system this side of Christmas which is very frustrating but these things cant be rushed.
Cllr Shuter added that it was regrettable that the waste was being sent to landfill, but given the nature of the PFI contract it was not costing the council any more than if the waste was being treated at the MBT plant.
The composting hall contains two lanes. AmeyCespa had hoped to get the second wheel up and running while the first one is fixed, however it is likely that neither wheel will be operating until after Christmas. Cllr Shuter said he was hopeful that second wheel could be used while the first one is repaired, but it is likely that it will need some strengthening prior to this.
Equipment
The equipment used at the MBT plant was manufactured by Swiss firm Kelag Holding AG, and installed by contractor BAM Nutall. In March 2008 a subsidiary of Kelag Holding AG Kelag Umwelttechnik (also known as Biolog Umwelttechnik) – won the contract to supply and complete process engineering on the MBT plant. A former Kelag manager, Huw Gaskill, now works for AmeyCespa (East) and runs the Waterbeach plant.
Kelag Holding AG was not available for comment when contacted by letsrecycle.com.
AmeyCespa said the technology used at the plant in Waterbeach is not in use anywhere else in the UK. However Kelags compost turning machine (CTM) technology, used in Cambridgeshire, has been installed at a facility in Istanbul, Turkey.
Ships anchor
Previously, Mr Gaskill has described some of the problematic material received by the plant and highlighted the use of cameras to monitor deliveries he was speaking when the plant was run by Donarbon which was acquired by AmeyCespa in 2010.
Commenting in support of the use of cameras supplied by Axis at the plant, Mr Gaskill has previously said: The Donarbon waste management plant is open to the public seven days a week. Although the majority of visitors abide by the rules of what can or cant be taken to the site as black bag waste, we were becoming increasingly used to finding out of the ordinary objects. On one occasion a ships anchor was brought here. This issue is one of the main drivers for ensuring that the site is closely monitored to identify and discourage this practice.
Facility
The MBT is the centrepiece of a 28-year, 731 million PFI contract between Cambridgeshire county council and AmeyCespa, designed to ensure the council meets its recycling and landfill diversion targets (see letsrecycle.com story).
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