Shanks begins full operations at BDR waste facility

The facility, which has been developed in partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), treats residual waste collected from 340,000 households across Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham councils for the next 25 years.

The plant was built as part of a £750 million PFI contract signed between the joint venture and the three South Yorkshire councils in 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story). The Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) partnership secured £77.4m of funding from central government towards the cost of the new waste facilities.

Shanks will operate mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion facilities at the Bolton Road site – converting the residual waste element into refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Shanks accepted its first waste load at the facility in February this year.

Ferrybridge

The majority of the RDF produced at the plant will be used to generate electricity at Multifuel Energy Limited’s £300 million multi-fuel plant in Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire – a joint venture between SSE and Wheelabrator Technologies.

The 108MW plant, which has capacity to process around 570,000 tonnes of waste per year, began burning solid fuel in two of its boiler lines for the first time in May, and is expected to become commercially operational by the end of 2015 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Some of the material produced at the BDR facility will meanwhile be used on-site at the Rotherham AD plant to produce power and a compost output for land remediation.

Shanks will operate the facility over the duration of the contract until 2040. The firm suggests it will divert up to 96.5% of the waste it receives from landfill in addition to saving the equivalent to 114,000 tonnes of CO2 at its facility every year.

‘Delighted’

Peter Eglinton, managing director of Shanks’ municipal division, said the company was ‘delighted’ to be able to offer the service to residents across the three local authorities.

He said: “We are delighted to reach full service on this important contract with Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham councils. As a leading waste-to-product company, we are excited to divert up to 96.5% of waste from landfill in addition to making a significant CO2 saving at our facility.

“Reaching this important milestone means that we can now work closely with our customer to continuously improve the plant and accelerate making more from waste.”