MBT recycling plant could be on the cards in Liverpool

The council was given a presentation on the technique by Shanks Waste Services, the Buckinghamshire-based company already in the advanced stages of planning discussions for an MBT plant in Milton Keynes (see letsrecycle.com story).

Local newspaper reports have said the 200 million centre could be up and running in Liverpool by 2008, and that “Shanks is likely to enter into a 20-year contract with the council costing 10m a year”.

However, a Shanks spokesman told letsrecycle.com that it was “early days” and that nothing had been confirmed, although he did admit Shanks is preferred bidder for a waste management contract that might involve an MBT plant.

“The council are looking at what road they will be going down,” the spokesman explained, “and we're recommending a way forward. We have outlined MBT in principle, giving the council generic detail of how plants work. The council has decided to put that information in the hands of a working group.”

The spokesman was unsure of the timescales involved, but he said the contract would be in place “sooner rather than later”, with an eye on forthcoming statutory targets. Liverpool currently recycles around 2% – one of the worst areas in the country for recycling. By 2020, the city must reduce landfill from 98% to 35% of 1995 waste levels.

MBT
Mechanical Biological Treatment plants, sometimes known as “bio-MRFs”, can take different forms, but essentially see waste separated into dry recyclables and organic waste, with residual waste further separated using sieves and magnets before being dried using air currents. The technology used by Shanks comes from the Italian firm Ecodeco.

MBT has been described by Greenpeace as “a state-of-the-art alternative to incineration for residual municipal waste”, although in a recent report by the campaign group, senior toxics campaigner Mark Strutt said “MBT is not, of course, a magic box that eliminates the need for a final disposal option.”

Mr Strutt added: “What it does to is greatly reduce both the quantity and toxicity of residual waste.”