Plans for the facility, which will be run for the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, have been prepared by Lancashire firm Fairport Engineering for a site on the Huyton Industrial Estate.
” It will by no means solve all Merseyside's waste problems. However, it demonstrates the kind of creativity and commitment we have got to show “
– Cllr Kevin Cluskey, MWDA
The plant comes as the last of nine projects to be confirmed for funding support under the government's 30m New Technologies Demonstrator Programme.
Merseyside is hoping the mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility, which still needs planning permission, will boost recycling rates by removing recyclable material from mixed household waste before residues are converted to a refuse-derived fuel.
The Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority, which has been struggling to meet government landfill limits, sees the system as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to incineration for black bag waste.
Carl Beer, director of the Authority, said: “The government has staked a lot of money on this project because it recognises that it has real potential to make a difference across the UK.”
He explained: “From a Merseyside point of view, this will save money by relieving the massive pressure on landfill. Just by diverting up to 30,000 tonnes of biodegradable waste from landfill it will have the potential to save council taxpayers 1.5 million.”
MWDA chairman Cllr Kevin Cluskey, added: “It will by no means solve all Merseyside's waste problems. However, it demonstrates the kind of creativity and commitment we have got to show if we are ever going to get to grips with the vast mountains of waste currently sent to landfill.”
Projects
Defra's Demonstrator Programme was supposed to bring 10 plants on line by the end of this year, but the Department now believes facilities are more likely to be operational by 2008.
Launched to help local authorities assess comparatively new technologies for treating residual waste in order to meet targets under the Landfill Directive, officials have conceded that the programme will now not come in time to help with the 2010 targets.
The scheme has been criticised for delays in agreeing funding (see letsrecycle.com story), while there has been some disappointment that technologies like autoclaving are not to be demonstrated.
Of the programme's other eight projects, three are now operational – the Bioganix in-vessel composting plant in Leominster in Herefordshire, the Greenfinch anaerobic digester in Ludlow in Shropshire and the Premier Waste aerobic digestion plant in Durham. The ADAZ/Envar in-vessel composting plant in Cambridgeshire is due to be operational by April 2007.
Meanwhile the Novera gasification plant in Dagenham, Energos gasification plant on the Isle of Wight, the Yorwaste gasification plant at Seamer Carr in Scarborough and Compact Power gasification plant in Avonmouth should be operational by April 2008.
Risk
Council officers believe the benefits of the Demonstrator Programme will come too late for the short-to-medium term targets set by the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.
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The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee's policy officer Andrew Craig commented that authorities outside the programme would only gain information on the risks of technologies in the long-term – after studies of the different technologies had been carried out.
Mr Craig said: “The government is in a small way trying to encourage innovation in waste management and with a couple of projects up and running already they have done very well. However, in the short to medium term I don't think the projects will help local authorities who are not immediately involved.”
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