News: BDR consultation on proposed waste plant

Public consultation is to begin in mid July on proposals for a new waste recycling centre in Manvers.

A partnership between Shanks Group plc and SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc), 3SE plans to use three sites to treat waste from Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham – Bolton Road at Manvers in Rotherham, Grange Lane transfer station in Barnsley, and Ferrybridge Power Station in West Yorkshire.

Adjacent to the NEXT warehouse at Brookfield's Park, mechanical biological treatment (MBT) technology is to be used to process black or grey bin waste. This will produce a solid recovered fuel. There will also be an anaerobic digestion plant producing sustainable energy and a bio-compost. The solid fuel recovered will then be transported to a proposed multi-fuel plant next to the existing coal-fired power station at Ferrybridge, where it will be used to generate electricity.

Italian company, Ecodeco is set to build the plant.

3SE, in association with BDR, is holding a number of exhibitions near the site so that local residents can view and comment on the proposals as well as ask questions of the project team. Newsletters, with information on the proposals, are being sent out to 18,500 local homes and businesses, providing details about the exhibitions and a point of contact for queries.

Stephen Ray, a spokesman for Shanks, said: "Once operational, this facility will enable us deal effectively with the Councils' residual waste while creating energy and re-using materials that would otherwise go to landfill.

"Burying waste in holes in the ground is no longer sustainable, as it produces methane which is 21 times more harmful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. There are also increasing financial penalties for councils which fail to meet tough new targets for reducing landfill and these costs would have to be borne by council taxpayers."

BDR website

Images: bdronline.co.uk