County gets first bio plant

A key element in Wiltshire’s strategy to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill has been secured with the signature of a contract between Hills Waste Solutions and Wiltshire Council allowing 60,000 tonnes of household waste to be treated in the county’s first mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant.
 
The contract gives the go-ahead for the construction of a £20 million facility to house the MBT plant on the Northacre Trading Estate, Stephenson Road, Westbury. Building works are scheduled to commence in August 2011 and the Hills’ Northacre resource recovery facility is expected to be operational by the late summer of 2013.
 
The Hills’ Northacre facility will reduce the proportion of Wiltshire’s municipal waste sent to landfill to less than 20 per cent, from a current performance of about 37 per cent and a landfill total of almost 80 per cent a few years ago.
 
Commenting on the contract, Alan Pardoe, Hills Group chairman said, “This contract and the construction of the Hills’ Northacre facility is considered to be a key step in Hills Waste Solutions’ transition from a landfill disposal operator to a waste recycling and treatment business. It will enable us to bring forward further waste treatment projects and secure the company’s future in waste management.”
 
Toby Sturgis, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for Waste, said: “We are pleased to have signed the contract, and it is another milestone in Wiltshire’s waste management strategy which will see thousands of tonnes of waste diverted from landfill.”
 
The Hills’ Northacre facility will receive 60,000 tonnes of municipal waste from households in the county and, in doing so, help the county’s taxpayers avoid landfill tax, which will cost £80 per tonne by 2014.
 
It is estimated that the Hills’ Northacre facility will save significant council lorry miles per year as waste from the west of Wiltshire will no longer need to be transported to Hills’ landfill site at Lower Compton. By reducing the miles that these refuse collection vehicles travel, the facility has the potential to make a reduction in Wiltshire’s carbon footprint.

Initially the refuse derived fuel (RDF) produced will be transported by road to port and then shipped to Europe for use in renewable energy plants, but it is anticipated that the production of RDF will encourage the creation of a more local market.
 
MBT specialist, Entsorga Italia, is providing technology for the plant and Interserve plc has been awarded the design and build construction contract.
 
The Hills Group received planning permission for Northacre in March 2009 and Wiltshire Cabinet approved the Municipal Waste Diversion (Landfill Diversion Contract) at their Cabinet meeting on 15 February 2011.

Pictured: Standing with a design model of the proposed construction are (left to right) - Alan Pardoe (chairman, Hills Group), Tracy Carter (service director, Waste Management, Wiltshire Council), Mike Webster (group director, Hills Waste Solutions), Mark Boden (corporate director, Economic Development, Planning and Housing, Wiltshire Council), Mike Hill (chief executive, Hills Group), Councillor Toby Sturgis (Wiltshire Council cabinet member for Waste)