Powerday plans its second large-scale MRF

And, the construction and demolition waste recycling specialist has also announced the appointment of Mark Bensted as its new managing director, in a change which will see existing managing director and owner Mick Crossan become chairman of the firm.

Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Powerday explained it would be looking to develop the materials recycling facility (MRF) at a site in West Drayton, based on the same model as its existing £25 million MRF at Old Oak Sidings in West London.

The proposed facility is expected to cost £30 million to develop and the firm is hopeful of beginning construction on the 27-acre plot of land in the early part of 2011. The capacity of the facility has not been announced and Powerday said it is subject to the outcome of the planning process.

Simon Little, sales and marketing director at Powerday, said: “It is going to be built on a specification as such that we can have a dedicated processes for construction and demolition, residual black bag and commercial and industrial waste as well. And, the proposal will deliver it all totally enclosed in a large single building.”

Mr Little also stated that the firm was also currently in the “emerging phase” of developing its own energy-from-waste facility. The company already supplies 80,000 tonnes of refuse derived fuel (RDF) to locations such as Slough Heat and Power and the Allington energy-from-waste plant in Kent.

In addition to the Old Oak Sidings facility, which processes 700,000 tonnes of waste each year with a capacity to handle 1.6 million tonnes annually, Powerday currently operates three waste transfer stations within London at Brixton, Neasden and Enfield.

Councils

Development of the proposed West Drayton plant, which is still subject to planning permission from Hillingdon borough council, is intended to help the firm secure more work with local authorities.

At present, it predominantly accepts waste from the construction and demolition sector, however, it has made moves to increase tonnages it receives from local authorities – which currently account for 40,000 tonnes of waste each year.

Mr Little said: “Once [West Drayton] is complete we will be looking at further sites as well and taking the concept of large-scale mechanical processing forward to work with local authorities. The focus will be on London but potentially working with other urban areas.”

A spokeswoman for Powerday added: “At Powerday we are working towards a 50/50 split with commercial industrial waste and local authority waste, it is about making them work alongside.”

The spokeswoman pointed to work currently being undertaken by Powerday with councils in West London, such as Hillingdon, Ealing and Harrow, to sort residual waste collected from flats in order to extract recyclable material.

MD

Details of the planned West Drayton facility comes as the firm announced that Mark Benstead will take over as managing director of Powerday in May, in a move which will allow current managing director and owner Mick Crossan to focus his efforts on helping develop the company's presence in West London in his new role of chairman.

Mr Bensted joins Powerday from British Waterways, where he has operated as London Director since 1990 having previously worked in the construction sector for construction firms Taylor Woodrow and Kyle Stewart.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Bensted said: “This is a huge and rapidly changing sector, where the value of waste is now very much a driver for the industry as is wider society's demand to manage its waste in a more sustainable manner.

“Powerday has recognised this shift and is now very much at the forefront of this change which is why I've jumped at the opportunity to join a major player in the industry.”