Worcestershire’s household rubbish could be transformed into a useful eco-fuel, if plans for a revolutionary £35 million waste processing plant go ahead.
Plans to construct the plant on a site at Hartlebury, near Kidderminster, are under consideration by Worcestershire County Council and its private waste contractor, Mercia Waste Management.
At present the council’s plans include a new plant for dealing with recyclable waste, which is due to open at Norton, near Worcester, next year. However, under these plans, all non-recyclable rubbish will still go straight to landfill.
Estech Europe is the waste company offering an alternative solution. They have been involved in negotiations with Worcestershire Council and Mercia Waste over the possibility of building a hi-tech Fibrecycle plant at Hartlebury.
The waste company are proposing to use technology that puts non-recyclable waste through a process called steam autoclaving, sterilising it with high-pressure steam and transforming it into a fibrous pulp.
Estech Europe claims that this pulp can then be used as a clean, renewable energy source, or put to other uses such as making paper. It says its solution would cut the amount of waste Worcestershire sends to landfill by as much as 80 per cent.
Managing director of Estech, Jonathan Allen said,
"We are in discussions with Mercia Waste Management. We would like to build a plant but first we have to conclude a deal with Mercia. We would like to get the negotiations completed during the summer and then start (building) on the ground in the autumn, but we have to be patient."
The company already has the planning permission to build the plant and says it would be able to deal with more than 100,000 tonnes of black bin waste each year.
Mercia Waste Management, which is paid by the council to dispose of the county's waste, is demanding strong evidence that what it sees as unproven technology is the best long-term solution.
Mercia director Javier Periero said,
"We are looking at all the options. We have asked Estech to prove the things they say they can achieve, and we're waiting for some of the details. But there are other options."
The county has long wanted to build an incinerator to burn its non-recyclable waste, although in 2002 opposition from local residents stopped a plant being built near Kidderminster.
Earlier this year, the council's Tory leader George Lord said he was in favour of an incinerator somewhere in the two counties.
