The 320,000 tonnes-per-year capacity energy recovery plant, due to begin operations in early 2018, has been part financed by the Green Investment Bank.
Waste contractor Amey is developing the site under a 25-year contract signed with North Yorkshire county council and City of York council in 2010.
Incoming waste from the councils will be sent through a mechanical treatment process, with recyclables separated and the organic fraction sent to on-site anaerobic digestion.
The remaining waste will then be sent onward for energy recovery at the Park, exporting 24MWh of energy to the National Grid.
Mark James, Construction Manager at Allerton Waste Recovery Park, said: “2016 was a very busy year which saw the facility really taking shape.
“A key landmark was the installation of the stack on the energy from waste plant during the summer.”
Mark James, construction manager
Amey
“A key landmark was the installation of the stack on the energy from waste plant during the summer. With the energy from waste part of the facility most of the equipment is put into place and the building is then completed around. We are now in the final stages of that building work.
“At the other side of the facility we’ve completed mechanical treatment building and we are now busy getting that equipment installed. This is progressing really well. When it is complete it will feature a range of intelligent sorting equipment including magnets and infrared detectors to separate out plastics and metals for recycling.”
Funding
Building work on the Recovery Park initially began in March 2015, after plans for the project were given final approval by the two councils in September 2014.
The project suffered a major setback in early 2013, when Defra withdrew financial backing for the facility under its waste PFI funding initiative, alongside projects in Merseyside and Bradford and Claderdale.
Instead, the Yorkshire authorities turned to the government’s Green Investment Bank and the European Investment Banks for financial support for the project, with over £183 million in funding secured for the facility.
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