60,000 TPA Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant Opened in Wiltshire

Marlborough, UK based waste and recycling firm, Hills Waste Solutions, has opened its 60,000 tonne per year Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) facility in the Northacre trading estate in Westbury, Wiltshire. The company explained that the facility has now been issued with a completion certificate which marks the end of the commissioning phase and sees the centre move onto normal day-to-day operations. It also signalled the official start of the 25 year contract between Hills, the site’s operators, and Wiltshire Council to divert 60,000 tonnes of the county’s household waste from landfill and process it into a Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). The MBT process t employs microbes within the waste to accelerate the decomposition process and takes up to 14 days. To avoid odours, Hills said that the building is sealed and maintained under negative air pressure. According to Hills, while it is looking to secure a local solution to use the fuel , currently the SRF produced will being exported to Europe under a five year contract, where it is used to generate energy. The company said that the MBT plant will produce around 28,200 tonnes of SRF each year, with the equivalent of 20,000 tonnes being lost through drying. Additionally, 1800 tonnes of recyclable materials are expected to be recovered annually and 10,000 tonnes of bio-stabilised residue will be sent to landfill. Hills added that the plant took nearly eight years in planning, eighteen months, £24 million and 13,500 tonnes of concrete to construct and just over 10 months to commission. While the facility uses 2 MW of power, Hills noted that 350 kW of photovoltaic panels will be installed on the roof in 2014. Read More Biffa’s Paid Green Waste Service Collects 50,000 tonnes for Composting Biffa has diverted more than 50,000 tonnes of garden waste from landfill with the help of the 35,000+ members of its five Green Waste Clubs. Enzyme Discovery to Benefit Organic Waste to Biofuel Techniques A family of enzymes that can degrade hard to digest biowastes into its constituent sugars for use in the manufacture of biofuels has been discovered by researchers from the Department of Chemistry at York University. Sensor Based Sorting Key to UK C&I Waste Processing Shortfall Tomra's Steve Almond explains why sensor based sorting technology could hold the key to the UK's shortfall of commercial and industrial waste processing capacity.