Environment Minister George Eustice MP has joined Swindon MPs, Justin Tomlinson and Robert Buckland to officially open the town's mechanised waste to energy recovery facility
The Minister heard how residents currently separate about 50 per cent of waste - glass, paper and plastic - for kerbside collection, recycling and resale back into industry. However every day between 150 to 200 tons of rubbish is picked up from households which, until the opening of the new facility, went into landfill.
Trials at Swindon Commercial Services household waste centre at Waterside Park started in December and within weeks the site was processing 95 per cent of the town's wheelie bin waste, and waste dumped by the public at the adjacent household recycling centre.
The £6 million investment by Swindon Borough Council means that the rubbish that Swindon residents throw out will no longer cost the council taxpayer £3 million a year in landfill charges. Swindon is first local authority in Britain to make the investment in the technology and the installation is the first to process household black bag waste into refuse derived fuel.
The larger separated waste - plastic, metal, paper and food waste - is carried on conveyor belts through a series of vibrators, magnets and magnetic force fields to pick out different kinds of metals which drop onto side conveyors and deposited into different collecting areas, to be sent for resale in recycling markets. Air blowers divert lighter material like paper and plastic onto the next stage whilst heavier waste and larger bits that have not broken down, including harder food items like potatoes, are filtered out to be broken down more and sent through the system again.
At the end of the line, a giant shredder then breaks down everything remaining into flakes that are squashed and strapped into giant bales, before being wrapped in plastic and stored to await transportation to power stations. The installation has the capacity to process 100,000 tons of waste annually, 50,000 of which will be municipal waste. Over the next few months the Waterside site will start process industrial waste which can be turned into fuel.
Environment Minister George Eustice MP said: "DEFRA is keen to encourage plants like this; we cannot keep chucking waste into the ground. Swindon is leading the way and other authorities will follow. We need UK manufacturers to see the opportunities presented by this low cost source of fuel produced in this country and invest in new plant for local power generation, or make changes to their existing power plants. We're looking for creative and innovative ways to use this fuel”.
Justin Tomlinson MP added: "The waste to fuel facility is both fantastic and fascinating in equal measure. I find it incredible that 95 per cent of the waste that goes into wheelie bins and is dumped at the household recycling centre can be turned into fuel. I'm glad Swindon is leading the way."
This article was first published online by Swindon Link.
