Work starts on one of Europes largest MRFs

The facility, known as Greenstar Atlas, is located next to LondonWaste's incinerator in Edmonton and is expected to be one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe (see letsrecycle.com story).

The first of over 70 shipping containers from Californian MRF specialist CP Manufacturing arrived at the 175,000ft² building before Christmas. A further 30 consignments of push walls – which are designed to absorb impact caused by waste and trucks in the tipping hall – were delivered in early January, together with six containers of steelwork.

Licensed to process up to 250,000 tonnes of recyclables annually, as well as handling a further 250,000 tonnes through its waste transfer station each year, Greenstar said the facility was designed for high volume and high speed processing. It will accept paper, card, plastic bottles and metals for sorting alongside mixed plastics and glass – streams which have traditionally been difficult to separate.

The company said it had already secured local authority contracts for processing over 100,000 tonnes of domestic recyclables at the facility annually – which includes deals to sort 20,000 tonnes a year on behalf of the North London Waste Authority and a contract for Enfield council, both announced last year (see letsrecycle.com story). The company also hopes to win commercial recyclable collection and processing contracts.

Greenstar UK chief executive Ian Wakelin said the construction programme should mean Atlas starts full operation in the spring. “The high speed processing capacity and output quality for Atlas will be strategically important for Greenstar and for local authorities in the capital and the south east.”

Programme

Over 1,600 tonnes of steelwork and processing equipment will be assembled by the CP installation team and contractor Ebbsfleet Engineering.

The three-phase project comprises now-completed civil engineering work to ready the building for installation, plant installation during January and February, and then ‘dry' commissioning and test processing in March prior to full operation in April.

In phase one, contractor Volkes Fitzpatrick completed pits for conveyor and baler machinery, created a larger vehicle yard, built office accommodation, constructed a weighbridge, installed a sprinkler system and connected the site's 4MW power supply and other utilities. Greenstar said that the £500,000 sprinkler system can deliver 6,500 litres of water a minute, which would empty an Olympic swimming pool in seven minutes.

Design 

Greenstar UK group engineering manager, Neil Arlett, spent time with the CP design team in San Diego, working with them to customise the base Atlas design. “We added design modifications for a more linear configuration to improve access for maintenance. Any one part of Atlas can be shut down for maintenance or repair without affecting the continuing operation of other parts of the plant,” he said.

He explained that CP, one of the largest MRF manufacturers in the USA, was chosen for the US$14 million (£8.8 million) order because of its advanced technology, track record, and willingness to design equipment innovations to meet Greenstar's quality processing requirements.

Plant supervisors will carry wireless touch screen controllers that will let them directly control every part of the plant as they walk around the site.

The Atlas facility is designed to handle over 30 vehicles an hour tipping into a 45,000 ft2 hall and taking up almost a third of the entire building area.

Greenstar has another “super-MRF” at Aldridge in Birmingham which is capable of sorting 300,000 tonnes of recyclables a year and it is also developing a network of smaller, feeder MRFs.