Merseyside plans 20m recycling park

The proposal includes a materials recycling facility capable of sorting 100,000 tonnes of recyclable material a year and a visitors centre and forms part of the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority's (MWDA) plans to procure new facilities under the Authority's £3 billion waste PFI programme.

The plans, which are due to be formally submitted to Liverpool city council at the end of the year, will see the facilities developed at Stonebridge Lane, Gillmoss, where there is already an existing waste transfer station owned by the Authority.

The new MRF would be capable of manually and mechanically sorting the contents of recycling collections from Merseyside homes into separate glass, cardboard, plastic bottle, cans and paper streams.

Carl Beer, MWDA director, said: “Merseyside homes are producing too much waste and we have got to find new ways of dealing with it. Doing nothing is not an option and could ultimately cost the region's tax payers up to £400 million.

“The Gillmoss development will be a vital part of the overall solution. We are currently looking at options for other waste disposal facilities elsewhere to complete the jigsaw,” he added.

Operating in a similar way to the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority's (MWDA) existing facility in Bidston, Wirral, waste would be sorted in enclosed buildings before being moved to third party processors for recycling into new products and raw materials.

However, future provision at the site could include the ability to allow organic rubbish such as kitchen waste to be composted in enclosed facilities, completing the development of the location as a recycling park.

PFI

The planned Gillmoss site is part of a wider commitment by the MWDA to meet future waste disposal needs, which will see the development of proposals for more waste and recycling facilities over the next 18 months.

Management of the proposed site would be undertaken by one of the two final bidders for the MWDA waste management and recycling contract, one of three waste contracts currently out to tender in the city. The MWDA cut the shortlist to two in July, leaving SITA UK and Veolia still in the running (see letsrecycle.com story).

The contract, which is due to be awarded in April 2009, will also see the appointed company manage all of Merseyside and Halton's existing household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), transfer stations, MRFs, and provide new facilities to increase the level of recycling.

Public information events and newsletters will be used to inform the 19,000 homes and businesses in the area of the plans, ahead of a formal application for the Gillmoss recycling park being submitted to Liverpool city council later in the year. The MWDA is hopeful that the site would be operational by 2010 once the application receives approval.