New Energy-from-Waste Incinerator Planned in U.K.

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Plans for a new energy-from-waste (EfW) incinerator to be based at the Newhurst Quarry in Leicestershire, England, have been revealed by waste-management company Biffa Limited (High Wycombe, England). The energy-recovery facility will generate 21 megawatts (MW) of electricity for 42,000 homes by processing 300,000 tonnes of waste annually. Biffa is one of three firms shortlisted by Leicestershire County Council for the procurement of a 25-year contract to deal with the area's residual waste. The EfW incinerator will be the company's first project of this type and will occupy a site that has already been granted planning permission for a waste treatment plant.

The EfW plant will use technology from Swiss thermal technology company Von Roll Inova (Zurich), which has built nearly 400 energy recovery plants worldwide. The system reduces the volume of waste that would otherwise go to landfill by up to 95%. According to Biffa, the plant will deal with 180,000 tonnes of household waste per year, alongside 120,000 tonnes of business waste.

"Waste should be seen as a resource," said Biffa CEO Andre Horbach. "Our view is that it should be recycled wherever possible and the remaining material used to generate energy."

Waste will be delivered to a reception area of the building, and automated conveyors will transfer it to the combustion chamber, where the heat will produce steam to power the generators. Biffa said the facility will incorporate all required environmental and air pollution control systems to ensure emissions are well within legal limits. Ash from the combustion process will be recycled as aggregates for the building and construction industry, while separate fly ash will be taken offsite for disposal.

According to Biffa Development Director Simon Allin: "Whilst our original plans for this site are still viable, technology has progressed, and the Leicestershire procurement process makes an energy plant totally viable. We are so convinced of its benefits that even if we were not successful in gaining the Council waste contract, we would still progress this plant for the region's business waste. This is an excellent opportunity to move away from landfill and all its associated environmental issues and provide a modern energy recovery facility on a site which is already established as being suitable for waste management on a similar scale."

EfW plants are cropping up more frequently in the U.K. The government recently granted permission to Peel Environmental to construct a 95-MW EfW facility in Cheshire that will burn 600,000 tonnes of waste each year. For additional information, see August 17, 2009, news article - U.K. Approves Waste-Burning Power Plant in Cheshire.

Suffolk County Council recently announced plans with Entec UK Limited (Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom), to build a £200 million ($327 million) energy-from-waste facility in Great Blakenham, near Ipswich. The 25-MW facility will handle 250,000 tons per year of municipal waste. For additional information, see August 24, 2009, news article - Suffolk County Plans 20-Megawatt Waste-to-Energy Plant Near Ipswich.

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