Swansea invests in in-vessel composting technology

Preston-based TEG will supply a Silo-Cage in-vessel composting system, which will process 7,000 tonnes of organic material each year. Run by the Swansea City Waste Disposal Company, the facility will begin by taking in food waste without meat products, but the aim is for it to process meat products as well in the near future.

”Swansea is purchasing a system which is a clean composting solution, capable of dealing with all types of organic waste.“
– Dick Bilborough, TEG chief executive
Swansea has said that it is investing in this green technology as a way of reaching recycling targets, as well as diverting organic waste from landfill. It is anticipated that a pilot kerbside scheme will be introduced in the near future to provide sorted kitchen and organic waste and an element of green waste for the compost machine.

Swansea has a recycling rate of 19.76% at the moment, and is aiming to reach a recycling rate of 25% by 2007. The council offers all households a fortnightly kerbside collection of paper, glass and cans, as well as trialling a fortnightly green waste collection service in the Clydach area.

John Hague, cabinet member for the environment at the city and county of Swansea, said: “We are pleased to be implementing leading, green-edge technology which can deal with the growing problem of safely treating organic waste streams to the high standards now required by legislation and helping us to meet the statutory targets for diverting waste from landfill.

TEG

For TEG, the Swansea contract marks the first time that it has been a manufacturer of the technology as well as the project manager of the installation.

Dick Bilborough, TEG chief executive, said: “Swansea is purchasing a system which is a clean composting solution, capable of dealing with all types of organic waste, including locally arising food wastes.

“It avoids disposal to unsightly landfill or to incineration. It is an important step for Swansea, moving their waste treatment up the hierarchy ladder of the preferred treatment of organic waste set out by the UK government and the EU,” Mr Bilborough.