CONSTRUCTION of a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant (MBT) in Westbury, the first one to be built in Wiltshire, is due to be completed this month.
Work will now begin on commissioning the equipment at the facility on the Northacre Industrial Estate. This phase is planned to take six to nine months, with the site expected to be fully operational by September 2013.
The £20million facility is a key element in Wiltshire Council’s strategy to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. It is estimated that the facility will reduce the proportion of the county’s municipal waste sent to landfill from 37% to less than 20%. Wiltshire Council says that diverting waste from landfill will help save the county’s taxpayers from paying landfill tax, which is set to increase every year until 2014 when it will reach £80 per tonne.
MBT technology
The MBT process to treat waste employs natural microbes within the waste to accelerate the decomposition process. The process takes up to 14 days and is carried out inside a sealed building which is maintained under negative air pressure to avoid the release of odours to the environment.
Process air from the building is passed through filters prior to release into the atmosphere. As the waste dries, it loses over 30 per cent of its original weight. Once dried, it is further processed to remove metals for recycling. It is from the remaining material that a solid recovered fuel (SRF) is manufactured.
The SRF is a dry and sanitised material that can be safely handled. Initially the solid recovered fuel (SRF) will be shipped to Europe for use in renewable energy plants, but it is anticipated that the production of SRF will encourage the creation of a more local market.
Once complete, the Northacre Resource Recovery Centre will have the capacity to treat 60,000 tonnes of waste per year under a contract agreed between Hills Waste and Wiltshire Council. When processed, this will comprise:
• 28,200 tonnes of refuse derived fuel (RDF)
• 20,000 tonnes lost through drying
• 1,800 tonnes of recyclable metals recovered
• 10,000 tonnes of bio-stabilised residue to landfill.
The construction process
The contract between Hills Waste and Wiltshire Council was signed in May 2011, giving the go-ahead for the project to begin. The two-year construction project began in July 2011.
With the construction phase ending this month, the next six to nine months will be spent commissioning the equipment. The plant is expected to open in September 2013.
You can find out more about the site at www.northacrerrc.co.uk
