North Hykeham EfW celebrates 10th anniversary

As part of its celebrations, the facility invited children from St Andrew’s C.E Primary School who had won the Waste Free Lunch Challenge to attend.

The Waste Free Lunch Challenge aims to teach children about the reduction of food waste, with the pupils from St Andrew’s generating 400g of general waste from their lunchboxes.

Andy Gutherson, executive director of Place, said: “We are 11 years into what is a great partnership with FCC Environment, and we look forward to our future as we process more waste and generate more energy for the benefit of the local community.

“The presence of the facility in the county has a number of positive implications: reducing non-recyclable waste being sent to landfill by around 93 percent and producing power to supply 27,000 homes. These environmentally-friendly and cost-saving results make a real difference for the people of Lincolnshire.”

Operations

Over the 10 years that the facility has been in operation it has converted this waste into 830,000 MWh of energy, powering approximately 27,000 homes across Lincolnshire according to Lincolnshire county council.

Lincolnshire County Council has been in partnership with FCC Environment for 11 years, as part of a 25-year collaboration aimed at managing residual waste collection, treatment, and transfer within the county.

It has stated that the North Hykeham facility has “exceeded expectations, delivering substantial environmental benefits and cost savings”.

Proud

Juergen Schaper, general manager of the plant, added: “We are extremely proud to have reached this very significant milestone. 10 years diverting waste from landfill and converting to energy is a real achievement for Lincolnshire.

“We are focused on continuing to exceed performance expectations in our successful partnership with the Council as we carry on creating valuable electricity, jobs and community support for the county.”

Partnership

The partnership between LCC and FCC Environment extends to collaboration with the seven district councils across Lincolnshire. Together, they manage both recyclable and non-recyclable waste, diverting the latter to the EfW plant for processing.

With a capacity to treat up to 190,000 tonnes of residual waste annually, the plant has processed a total of 1.780 million tonnes, producing 830,000 MWh of energy for the National Grid.

The North Hykeham plant is expected to save Lincolnshire County Council “around £30 million” over the contract’s lifetime.