The plant, at Coder Road industrial estate in Ludlow, will turn household organic waste into heat, electricity and a digestate material that can be used as a soil conditioner or fertiliser.
 Work begins: Front – Mark Pearce, Advantage West Midlands; Back (l-r) Graham Biggs, South Shropshire DC; John Homer, Bluestone; Michael Chesshire, Greenfinch. |
South Shropshire district council is working with technology firm Greenfinch on the project, which has received funding from Defra and development agency Advantage West Midlands.
The Ludlow plant is one of seven “demonstrator” plants funded through the first round of Defra's new technologies programme to trial new waste treatment technologies (see letsrecycle.com story).
The council has appointed developers Bluestone to construct the building, with Greenfinch designing and installing the treatment technology.
Re-Sort
Construction is expected to be completed by December, just after the start of a new “Re-Sort” rubbish and recycling scheme, which will see residents using green wheeled bins for garden waste, kitchen waste and cardboard.
The Ludlow plant, expected to be animal by-product compliant to a category three level so that it can process food waste as well as green waste, will take material from South Shropshire green bins from January 2006, the council said.
Cllr Susan McCormack, South Shropshire district council’s member for the environment and the economy, said: “The digester scheme is a real community project. We hope our residents will help us to make the scheme a success, by separating their waste so that the digester can really be tested, and that as much bio waste as possible is kept out of landfill sites.
South Shropshire, one of the most rural districts in England, recycled 26% of its household waste in 2003/04, comfortably hitting its 20% target. The council is now working towards a 30% recycling rate target for the end of this financial year.
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 South Shropshire's Re-Sort scheme |
Plastics
Another area the council is investing in is in the collection of plastic bottles at four recycling sites in the district.
Midlands firm Recresco will use its vacuum hose collection system to pick up plastic bottles, using a special lorry that can puncture and compress the bottles to improve collection efficiency (see letsrecycle.com story).
Ruth Richards, the council’s waste services team leader, said: “We know that this will be a popular move as we are often asked when further plastic collection facilities will be provided in the District.”
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