Norfolk county council has revealed it expects to save around 100,000-a-year under a new deal which involves contaminated and non-recyclable material from its dry recycling collections being turned into refuse derived fuel.
The local authority said, at present, around 6,500 tonnes of unwanted, non-recyclable and contaminated materials is mistakenly placed in kerbside dry recycling collections.
Norfolk sends these materials, along with dry recyclables, to the Costessey materials recycling facility, which is operated by Norse Environmental Waste Services (NEWS).
The 60,000 tonnes-a-year capacity plant at is used to sort paper, cardboard, tins, paper, plastic bottles and aerosols, which are then sold on for reprocessing.
But, all non-recyclable and contaminated materials, such as pizza boxes, yoghurt pots and crisps packets, which enters the plant is currently landfilled.
In a bid to end this, Norfolk has signed an agreement with Mid-UK that will involve non-recyclable and contaminated material to the Lincolnshire-based waste management firms Caythorpe site, where it will be turned into refuse derived fuel (RDF). The council was unable to reveal the length of the agreement for commercial reasons.
The RDF will then be used by cement manufacturer Cemex as an alternative fuel source for its South Ferriby kiln. Norfolk claims that the move will limit landfill costs and help save around 100,000 from its waste disposal budget.
RDF
Councillor Bill Borrett, cabinet member for environment and waste at Norfolk, said: This new contract is another example of Norfolk county councils complete commitment to divert as much waste as possible away from landfill which hurt our environment as well as our wallets.
Cllr Borrett said the agreement with Mid-UK meant that non-recyclable waste being delivered to the Costessey plant meant that it would be turned into a useful resource. He added that residents must also take steps to ensure they are putting the right material out for collection in their dry recycling.
Mark Allen, assistant director for environment and waste at the council, said: No matter how good we get, there will always be waste that simply cant be recycled either because there is no market for the material or because its spoiled and just isnt good enough quality for turning into new products that people want.
Mr Allen said that, as much as residents should not put non-recyclable materials out for collection, it was important to have outlets such as Mid-UK and Cemex to utilise fuel from the leftover waste.
The issue of RDF use has been brought into focus in recent weeks, with the Environment Agency revealing that the number of companies permitted to export the material to Europe has increased vastly over the past six months (see letsrecycle.com story).
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