"The county has chosen an innovative and forward thinking approach, which will set the standard for all other authorities"
David Singh, MD of Global Renewables
Manchester, England, UK: One year after financial closure, the Lancashire waste PFI contract is well into its stride with good progress being made, according to Global Renewables.
The 25 year contract is worth over £2 billion in revenue to Global Renewables and it is expected to make Lancashire one of the greenest counties in the UK in terms of waste management.
Construction of two facilities at Leyland, near Preston, and Thornton, near Blackpool, which are being delivered by Global Renewables UK Limited, is continuing with steelwork about to go up at the 12-hectare Thornton site. The construction work is also targeting waste minimisation and to date, 82 per cent of all waste generated has been recovered for recycling or reprocessing.
Together, the two sites will handle over 600,000 tonnes of household waste every year, reclaiming the maximum amount of recyclables from the waste stream and transforming the remaining organic fraction into renewable energy and a quality compost product.
The UR-3R Process
This non-thermal approach – known as the ‘Urban resource: reduce, recover, recycle’ or UR-3R Process® – significantly decreases the amount of waste landfilled, which in turn decreases the quantity of greenhouse gasses emitted and in particular the potent greenhouse gas, methane. This in turn helps close the carbon loop and restore nutrients to the soil, according to the company.
Global Renewables in collaboration with the Lancashire Waste Partnership has also set up a number of environmental education and waste minimisation schemes aimed at all sectors of the community.
The Lancashire Waste Partnership
The Lancashire Waste Partnership consisting of the fifteen Lancashire Waste Authorities, adopted a Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy in 2001.
The implementation of the strategy, including kerbside collection of dry recyclables and green waste resulted in the county’s recycling performance increasing to almost 40% in 2006/07.
Lancashire County Council and Blackpool Council have also partnered to procure the 25 year waste treatment contract supported by £90m of PFI credits from Central Government.
MD of Global Renewables David Singh commented:
“This is a very significant PFI which will revolutionise the way waste is handled in Lancashire. The county has chosen an innovative and forward thinking approach, which will set the standard for all other authorities. That we are on target is very good news for the county and a reflection of the dedication and hard work that has been put into delivering the contract.”
Further information
To find out more on the development of the sites at the Leyland and Thornton sites, visit the company's website.
Global Renewables is a resource recovery specialist which has combined some of the world’s most advanced and environmentally-responsible waste treatment technologies in the UR-3R Process® - a Greenpeace-approved mechanical biological treatment (MBT) solution for municipal solid waste, according to the company.
As well as the two state-of-the-art UR-3R® facilities being developed in Lancashire, Global Renewables also owns and operates an urban waste treatment facility incorporating the UR-3R Process® at Eastern Creek, Sydney.