A groundbreaking new facility is poised to help authorities in Hampshire achieve 94% landfill diversion of municipal household waste – the highest ever achieved by a whole county area – following the commissioning of Veolia Environmental Service’s first UK Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) facility. The new Warren Farm facility, near Fareham, will be managed by Veolia and represents a significant step towards Project Integra’s* aim of achieving zero landfill for domestic household waste.
Hampshire has already exceeded 90% landfill diversion, however the Warren Farm SRF facility will transform bulky waste from Hampshire into a fuel in a two year trial project which is set to add another 4% to the partnership’s recycling and recovery rate.
The facility will handle bulky materials from the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) network that currently go to landfill, as well as some commercial waste, which can now be processed to recover extra recycling. The remainder will be sent for recovery – similar to the collected black bin rubbish across the county that goes for energy recovery at one of the three state-of-the-art Energy Recovery Facilities (ERFs).
The SRF facility will handle bulky waste which is too large for kerbside collections or to be delivered to the ERFs. Machines shred the bulky waste and extract any metals for recycling, before the remaining material is shredded again.
A combination of mechanical equipment including a trommel, belt magnet, air separator and optical sort is then used to recover any other materials for recycling, such as metals. This new facility will produce a range of products suitable for recycling and recovery so that landfill is avoided.
Estelle Brachlianoff, Chief Executive Officer for Veolia Environmental Services (UK) said “Diverting waste away from landfill helps to make vital savings for councils across the country and Hampshire is leading the way. This new facility at Warren Farm shows that Veolia is innovating for the environment's benefit. At the moment this is a trial but we believe this will help lead Hampshire closer to zero waste to landfill."
Hampshire, through the Project Integra partnership, is already the best-performing county for avoiding waste to landfill, and this new facility aims to recycle and recover at least another 4%, meaning just 6% of waste would be sent to landfill. With the county’s collective recycling rate at above 37%**, the remaining 53% of Hampshire’s non-recyclable waste is then used to generate electricity via the three ERFs.
For more information visit www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk or join in the conversation on Twitter @Veolia_ES_UK #HampshireZW2L.
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*Project Integra – is a unique partnership between Hampshire County Council, the two Unitary Authorities of Southampton and Portsmouth, the 11 District Councils, and Veolia Environmental Services.
**2011/12 data shows Household Recycling, Reuse and Composting for Project Integra at 37.09%, and landfill diversion at 90.70%. This calculation represents a combination of reported waste data for Hampshire County Council, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton City Council, accounting for 756,585 tonnes of household waste.
Contacts
For more information please contact:
Veolia Environmental Services:
Keely Gallagher
0203 567 2918 or 07887 942 754
[email protected]
Or visit www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VeoliaUK.