Newark & Sherwood abandons MBT composting plans

The council had hoped to recycle up to 65% using Bedminster &#39b;iomechanical composting' technology from the USA. This is MBT (Mechanical and Biological Treatment) technology, which works by naturally breaking down organic materials and separating metals and plastics for recycling.

But negotiations with South Herts Waste Management, preferred bidders for a 25-year contract, revealed the facility would not be in place in time for the council to meet its immediate recycling targets of 25% by 2005/6.

Problems
Paul Robinson, head of environmental services at the council, said problems had centred on the time needed to get planning permission and build the facility. He told letsrecycle.com: “The decision to drop the scheme was primarily down to time. We&#39d; done a feasibility study and technical evaluation of the system which proved to be acceptable but we have got to meet our statutory targets by 2005/06.”

Some waste and recycling experts are opposed to heavy reliance on MBT to meet recycling targets. This is because the &#39c;ompost' MBT plants produce is thought to be of a low quality and contains unknown contaminants, while paper is lost altogether.

U-turn

Now, in a U-turn, the council has been forced to join a Nottinghamshire-wide partnership to install twin-bins it originally rejected as too costly and too difficult for householders. Along with the other district councils, Newark and Sherwood will now bring kerbside collections which will give residents an extra bin for dry recyclables excluding glass.

Newark & Sherwood produces about 45-50,000 tonnes waste per year and has a largely rural population of 100,000. A council study has shown that the twin bins could raise recycling to 27% in a few years, but only with high compliance. The attraction of the Bedminster scheme was that, according to council consultants Entec, it could recycle up to 65%, and would not need new bins or sorting by householders.

Cost
The 48,000 new bins will be rolled out across the district from about November 2004. They will cost the council about 1 million, even before extra transport costs are considered, but Mr Robinson said overall there was little cost difference between the twin bin and Bedminster schemes.

Mr Robinson said it would be difficult to bring the Bedminster system in later because the council was now committed to Nottinghamshire's integrated waste management system. “It would have to be part of a partnership approach,” he said.