In March the EA ordered the firm to send 10,000 tonnes of the digester's output to landfill after expressing concerns about the system and the quality of the compost-like output (CLO) it produced (see letsrecycle.com story).
To address the EA's worries, Premier Waste – which is owned by Durham county council – has installed a number of new systems to ensure CLO meets requirements. The shredder has been refurbished to cut waste down to a smaller size and a new trommel has been commissioned to prevent contamination of the CLO with plastics and other large materials.
The EA was concerned that waste was not being processed at a high enough temperature so the temperature monitoring system has also been upgraded from analogue to digital. Premier Waste has also installed insulation and added heating elements to support the composting action and ensure the CLO is heated to Defra's required 70 degrees Celsius.
The facility was closed while improvements were made and the first batch of waste was discharged from the re-opened system last week. However, until the re-commissioned technology is approved by the EA and Defra waste is still going to landfill.
A spokesperson for Premier Waste would not say how much waste was being processed or how much would end up in landfill. The spokesperson added: “All the work has been done but the Parc is now being recommissioned and it's going through testing with the EA and Defra to get things back on track.”
Ashley Cooper, Disposal Divisional Director predicted that the system would be back on approved by the end of the year. He said: “We are confident that the recommissioning of the system should take no longer than six months, and we are working closely with Defra and the EA through this process.”
Prior to the EA's decision the facility re-processed waste from nearby local councils including the City of Durham, South Tyneside, Sedgefield, and Easington.
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