Waste Management Facility Visits - Task and Finish Panel ...

Waste Strategy Progress Report – Appendix 1

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Waste Management Facility Visits - Task and Finish Panel Waste Recycling Group (WRG), Eastcroft Energy from Waste (EfW) Facility, Nottingham NG2 3JH. 14th September 2011 http://www.wrg.co.uk/page.php?article=709&name=Eastcroft+Energy+from+Waste+Facility Incineration is a waste treatment process which is widely used throughout the UK. The Eastcroft Energy from Waste facility is an example of an incinerator and is used to process residual waste left over after recycling and composting. Traditionally this technology is used as an alternative to landfill. The Eastcroft facility is located less than 1km from Nottingham City Centre, on an industrial estate close to Notts County and Nottingham Forrest football stadiums. The facility has a significant physical presence in the area due mainly to its substantial chimney stack.

Eastcroft Energy from Waste (EfW) Facility Annually, the facility takes around 160,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste from households and businesses within Nottingham and the wider county for treatment by high temperature incineration and energy recovery. Residual waste is brought to the facility after recyclable materials have been separated out either at home, household waste recycling centres or other waste recycling and treatment facilities.

http://www.wrg.co.uk/page.php?article=709&name=Eastcroft+Energy+from+Waste+Facility

http://www.wrg.co.uk/page.php?article=709&name=Eastcroft+Energy+from+Waste+Facility


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The energy recovery process generates steam, which is delivered via a pipeline to supply heat to a wide range of customers, including 4,600 domestic premises in the city, as well as public buildings including the Broad Marsh shopping centres, Victoria Baths, Nottingham Trent University’s Newton Building, the Inland Revenue building, the Magistrates Court, Nottingham City Council offices and the National Ice Centre. Any excess steam is also used to generate electricity which powers the facility and is also supplied to many local customers within Nottingham. The combustion process is closely controlled to prevent the creation of harmful substances and the combustion gases are treated and cleaned prior to being released to atmosphere under tightly controlled conditions through the stack. The facility is regulated through an environmental permit and key emissions are continuously monitored and the results checked regularly by the Environment Agency. Eastcroft’s emission levels are routinely lower than those stipulated in the Waste Incineration Directive (WID). Following the energy recovery process, around 2,500 tonnes of metal are extracted for recycling every year and the leftover bottom ash is recycled either as a secondary aggregate or used at landfill sites for engineering purposes. There is no facility on site to sort materials before it goes into the incinerator. Metal is removed at the back end of the process.

Delivery of wastes Mixing


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Incinerator feed hopper Burning at over 850 deg C

Separation of metals from bottom ash. The stack from below. Landfill Diversion Summary Out of all the wastes that are combusted at Eastcroft the following is achieved:

• 19% is bottom ash or fly ash which is currently land filled

• 1.6% is recycled metals

• In total 79% is diverted from landfill Note: WRG are currently in the process of assessing the viability of recycling bottom ash and fly ash that would significantly improve landfill diversion rates to approaching 100%.


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Sterecycle Autoclave, Rotherham 14th September 2011 http://www.sterecycle.com/ Although there are now several autoclave systems operational across the UK, it is still a comparatively new technology used for processing residual waste left over after recycling and composting. The facility is located in an old industrial area just over 2km from Meadowhall shopping centre and adjacent to the Magna Science Park. The facility has been constructed inside a pre-existing industrial building that was previously used for steel manufacture.

Sterecycle Autoclave, Rotherham Since June 2008 Sterecycle has been operating the plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire that is capable of processing 100,000 tonnes per annum of waste. The company state that the facility is the world’s first full scale commercial autoclave plant to treat residual household waste. The plant is processing residual waste from 3 local authorities under a contract for up to 10 years. These include Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. The Sterecycle autoclave process has two stages which are:

• sterilisation at controlled temperature and pressure

• mechanical separation. The heart of the Sterecycle system is a series of interconnected Sterecycle autoclaves. These are pressure vessels similar to those used in hospitals to

http://www.sterecycle.com/


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sterilise surgical instruments but are much larger and have unique patented characteristics. Unsorted household bagged waste is loaded directly into the vessels and heat is applied at around 140 deg C for 55 minutes as part of a 180 minute cycle. A combination of the steam and pressure raised internally and the rotation of the vessels results in:

(i) the organic fraction of the waste being broken down into a fibrous biomass; Sterefibre

(ii) the non-organics being sterilised and steam cleaned; (iii) the organics can now be easily separated from the non-organics;

and (iv) reduction in volume of the input waste material by 60 to 70%

The site currently operates 2 autoclaves. A third autoclave is due to be introduced next year which will see the amount of waste processed rise from 75,000 tonnes this year, to 130,000 tonnes next year. For every 10 tonnes of waste processed, 6.2 tonnes of fibre is currently produced. As well as the fibre, other materials such as metals and plastics, are removed for recycling as part of the treatment process Small metals are removed from the treated waste by a large magnet. The larger metals are removed by hand as the waste is passed along a conveyer belt. 3 to 4 staff currently work the conveyor and their pay is incentivised in order to ensure as many recyclables are removed as possible. Any waste that remains following completion of the process is sent to landfill. The steam from the autoclaves is passed through filters prior to being vented to the atmosphere. The process did create odours but these were contained within the structure through the regular use of atomised water sprays. The process is being continually refined in order to improve the quality of the final product and extract more recyclable material. They are also looking at the viability of providing power to adjacent sites. The company claim that Sterefibre is a biomass rich fuel which can be used either to generate steam and electricity through an integrated on-site Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant or exported to 3rd party facilities for the generation of heat and electricity. The fibre has sufficient calorific value to be used as a standalone fuel or can be mixed with other fuels. At the time of the visit however the material was mainly being used as landfill cover.


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The Sterecycle Autoclave Landfill Diversion Summary Performance is dependent on the composition of the wastes that come in to the facility but the following is claimed based on the average waste composition for an English Council gathered from DEFRA data:

• 62% is converted to Sterefibre

• 12.2% is recycled materials including metals, plastic and wood,

• 25.8% is land filled (note 12.6% of this material is suitable as a fuel for energy recovery depending on the availability of suitable outlets.

• In total it is claimed that 74.2% is diverted from landfill (it is possible to divert a higher percentage through the production of fuel)


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Transwaste Materials Recovery Facility, Melton 21st September 2011 http://www.transwasteltd.com/ Transwaste at Melton is a waste treatment facility that uses a combination of mechanical and manual sorting to separate recyclables from the waste stream. The process then prepares what is left into fuel for commercial use. The facility is approximately 8 miles west of Hull city centre and easily accessible from the M62 and A63. It is a purpose built waste transfer station that has been in operation since February 2009. The site occupies 22 acres, 8 of which are not currently being used. Currently 95% of all waste received is recycled or otherwise diverted from landfill.

Transwaste Materials Recovery Facility, Melton The company currently have a permit to process 230,000 tonnes a year but have applied for permission to process up to 350,000 tonnes. The facility currently processes commercial waste from the area. To manage household residual waste a new materials recycling facility would need to be built and designed to sort household waste to extract recyclable content. The waste is sorted into six different products, five of which can be recycled.

• Metal is segregated via magnets and eddy current separators and taken to an approved reprocessing facility

• Paper/cardboard is segregated and baled, ready for collection by a reprocessing mill where it is recycled

http://www.transwasteltd.com/


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• Wood is fed through a shredder and taken to a factory where plywood and chipboard are produced

• Green Waste such as bushes, trees and plants are shredded down and used to produce a compost

• Bricks are crushed to produce hardcore and aggregates

• Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is created from fractions of the waste stream with a high energy content; typically paper, plastics, textiles and wood etc that cannot be recycled. RDF can be sent to Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities or used in conjunction with other fuels in a process known as co-combustion, such as exists in cement kilns.

Manual sorting at the Transwaste Site At the moment the RDF produced by the treatment process is exported off the site. It is currently shipped to Denmark, Latvia and Portugal and used as a coal replacement (e.g. 60% RDF 40% Coal). The company has received planning permission for a Pyrolysis plant which would allow the company to use the RDF on site and produce energy for sale to the grid. Landfill Diversion summary Based on data supplied for 2011 for the whole facility:

• 90.4% was recycled or composted

• 6.3 % was converted into RDF.

• 3.3% was not recovered and is disposed of to landfill It is important to note that the vast majority of waste processed at this facility is industrial skip waste which has a significantly different composition to household


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residual waste. Commercial waste currently collected by the Council and processed at the Transwaste facility is more similar in composition to household residual waste. The landfill diversion performance for the Council’s commercial waste element is outlined below:

• 20% RDF Production

• 28% Recycling

• 52% Land filled


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Advanced Plasma Power, Swindon 8th November 2011 http://www.advancedplasmapower.com/swindon-gasplasma-plant.aspx Advanced Plasma Power operates a small scale facility to demonstrate the suitability and efficiency of patented gas plasma arc technology for processing a wide variety of waste streams including residual household waste. Whilst the technology has been used successfully in other applications, there are no commercial scale plants operational for processing residual household waste at present. The company is currently working with a range of waste management companies to develop operational facilities in the UK. The facility is a small scale version of a 150,000 tonne per year residual waste Gas plasma plant. The facility was constructed in 2007 when the company moved to its offices at Marston Gate, Swindon. It was not possible to take photographs inside the plant. Gas plasma is a 3 stage process:

1. The pre-treated waste feedstock is gasified in a fluidised bed gasifier, producing solid chars and ash in addition to a synthesis gas ("syngas"), which at this stage still contains tars and soot

2. The raw syngas is passed into a separate plasma converter which uses a

plasma arc at extremely high temperature to.

a) crack the long chain hydrocarbons in the raw syngas and produce a more pure, hydrogen-rich syngas;

b) vitrify all of the ash and inorganic fraction from the gasifier to form a

product called Plasmarok. This is an inert, environmentally benign aggregate which consists principally of silica, lime and alumina plus some oxides of metals. In the UK it has been reviewed by the Environment Agency as a product not a waste and therefore can be sold into the secondary aggregate market

3. The pure syngas is then cooled, cleaned and conditioned in standard

equipment before it is passed to the power island where gas engines or turbines use the pure syngas to generate clean, renewable, local, heat and power.

http://www.advancedplasmapower.com/swindon-gasplasma-plant.aspx


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The hydrogen-rich syngas, produced is clean enough to be further refined making a range of bio fuels and a very clean hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells. Only 2% by weight of the waste feedstock results as filter residue and this is land filled. The company propose that a standard design, 150,000 tonne Gas plasma

Energy from waste plant with materials recovery facility would require a footprint of approximately 10,000sqm and have a stack reaching approximately 10m above the eaves. A facility is stated to deliver the following outputs:

• 98% landfill diversion • Very low emissions • Zero bottom ash • Generates enough power for circa 15,000 homes (16MW) • Generates enough heat for circa 700 homes

Over 60% of the renewable energy produced would be exported to the grid.


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Hafslund Gasification Facility, Sarpsborg, Norway 15th November 2011 http://www.biogenpower.com/ The gasification plant at Sarpsborg is an advanced thermal treatment facility that treats commercial and industrial waste to generate heat and power. There are no purpose-built operational plants in mainland UK. There is one operational facility on the Isle of Wight but this site is a retrofitted incinerator and therefore not representative of the type of gasification plant that could be proposed in future contract procurement.

Hafslund Gasification Facility, Sarpsborg, Norway

Gasification is a process that converts waste into a range of gases. This is achieved by reacting the material at high temperatures (>700°C), without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam.

There are different gasification plant technologies in use across Europe, Asia and North America. The Hafslund facility uses technology provided by Energos. The Energos technology is scalable, with modular processing lines of 40,000 tonnes per year. The Energos technology is capable of processing several different waste streams including:

• Household Waste • Non Hazardous Commercial and Industrial Wastes

http://www.biogenpower.com/


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• Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Waste is taken from the reception bunker, sorted and shredded. Metals can be removed prior to the gasification process using magnets and eddy current separators. Heat produced by the process is used to produce steam which can power a turbine for the generation of electricity, or it can be used in a district heating system. Landfill Diversion summary Out of all of the wastes combusted at Sarpsborg in 2008 the following was achieved:

• 11,663 MWh power generated

• 42,641 MWh heating produced

• 17.5% was bottom ash which was land filled

• 4.3% was filter residue which was land filled

• 2.7% was recycled metals

• In total 78.2% was diverted from landfill BioGenpower is a partner company of Energos who promote the Energos gasification technology in the UK. BioGenpower have received planning permission for 5 gasification plants in the UK at the following locations:

Site Capacity Permission Date Site Area

Irvine 80,000 16th January 2009 0.7 Ha

Newport 120,000 22 April 2009 2.0 Ha

Barry 80,000 23 December 2009 1.6 Ha

Doncaster 120,000 16th December 2010 1.86 Ha

Bradford 160,000 6th April 2010 2.3 Ha


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Biffa Materials Recycling Facility, Trafford 14th October 2011 http://www.biffa.co.uk/waste-processing/materials-recycling/trafford-park.html Materials collected from the blue bin collection service need to be processed at a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF).

Biffa Materials Recycling Facility, Trafford Trafford Park Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) processes plastics, aluminium and steel cans, glass, tetrapak, paper and cardboard. It separates the materials and dispatches them to recycling outlets. The facility is located within a standard factory unit on the Trafford Park industrial estate. The plant can process approximately 200,000 tonnes per annum of mixed dry recyclable wastes and is currently operating at 60% of capacity and achieves recycling rates of approximately 95%. The facility processes 60% commercial waste and 40% domestic waste taken from within a 100 mile radius. The facility currently processes kerbside collected dry recyclable waste from Hull. The facility uses a number of automatic processes which sort by shape, size, weight and material type. It includes optical sorters that can distinguish between different types of plastic and electrical separators that can distinguish between types of metal. Manual sorting is carried out to remove items from the sorted streams that should not be there. The process results in the production of separated, baled, clean recyclables which are then sent for sale to the market. The sorted and baled wastes include glass, plastics, cardboard, paper, newspapers, plastic films and bottles, steel and aluminium cans.

http://www.biffa.co.uk/waste-processing/materials-recycling/trafford-park.html


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Waste delivery bay Activity within the plant


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Kemps In-Vessel Composting Facility, Nr Market Weighton 27th September 2011 The garden and food waste collected via the Council’s waste collection service needs to be processed through an In-vessel composting (IVC) facility. By law the composting of food waste must be done in an enclosed area where temperatures are controlled.

Kemps In-Vessel Composting Facility, Nr Market Weighton The facility is located in a rural part of the East Riding of Yorkshire over 1km from the nearest village. The facility has been developed through diversification of farming operations. The IVC facility uses enclosed vessels to compost kerbside collected garden and food waste. Composting harnesses the power of naturally occurring aerobic micro-organisms that use oxygen to generate energy and break down organic matter. The In-Vessel Composting process accelerates this decomposition and usually takes between two and three weeks. The facility currently processes the Council’s organic waste. On arrival, the waste is inspected and the materials that cannot be composted are removed. Less than 1% of the materials delivered cannot be composted. The material is then shredded to prepare it for processing and it is then placed in silo vessels, where temperature and oxygen levels are carefully monitored to provide a perfect environment for the micro-organisms to thrive. The composted material is then


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left to mature for a period of between two and three weeks to make it suitable for use. Following maturation, the product is checked to ensure it is of a high-quality, ready for use on land. The compost produced at this site achieves PAS100 which is the Government’s national quality standard. The compost is spread on neighboring arable land as compost.

Vessel with lid raised New vessel under construction


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GWE Biogas Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Plant, Driffield 27th September 2011 http://www.gwebiogas.co.uk/ The GWE Biogas AD plant near Driffield is a high specification privately funded plant located in the East Riding. The facility is designed to process kitchen waste and is currently unable to process mixed garden and kitchen waste. GWE Biogas Ltd was formed in early 2008 to develop an Anaerobic Digestion plant designed to treat 50,000 tonnes of food waste per year. The facility cost £10 million to build and there is scope to increase capacity to 100,000 tonnes per annum.

The GWE Biogas AD plant near Driffield

The facility takes food waste from commercial enterprises such as the main food retailers. The facility does not take green waste as it contains lignin, a compound which is difficult to break down. The plant produces 600 cubic metres of biogas an hour and, according to the web site, enough electricity to power over 3000 houses. AD is a process that uses three types of harmless natural bacteria to digest biomass into a stream of biogas and a sludgy fibrous material. The process is performed in sealed tanks so as to capture the biogas and the fibrous material. Reverse osmosis is used at the end of the process to extract the water from the slurry. The water is then stored in a holding pond before being used to irrigate nearby fields and the fibrous material can be used as soil improver. The biogas produced by AD contains both methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is the main component of the biogas, accounting for 50-70% of the volume. As methane is the main component of natural gas, biogas can often be used as a substitute fuel for natural gas.

http://www.gwebiogas.co.uk/


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The company has recently invested £1.5 million in de packaging equipment as all of the packaging has to be removed from the food waste before it can be fed in to the system. Currently most of the packaging waste is land filled.

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