AmeyCespa signed a contract with Milton Keynes Council in June 2013 to design, build and operate a waste treatment facility that can handle up to 80,000 tonnes of residual waste every year.
The council has a no mass burn policy meaning that AmeyCespa, owned by Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial, had to put forward other technologies to treat the waste. It will use:
- Mechanical treatment technology by Stadler to extract recyclable materials from residual waste;
- An anaerobic digester operated by Celtic Bioenergy which will treat any food or organic waste to create renewable energy and a compost-like output for use on brownfield sites; and,
- An Energos advanced thermal treatment facility which will turn any remaining, unrecyclable waste into a gas, which is combusted to generate high temperature steam which then creates electricity in a turbine.
The first stage of developing the Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park, which will be in Old Wolverton, is the demolition of existing buildings. This work starts on Monday 9th June and will take around three months. Work will then begin to prepare the site for the construction of new buildings which will house the waste treatment technologies.
Construction of the new facility is scheduled to be completed by January 2016. It will then go through commissioning and testing periods before it is fully operational in September 2016.
AmeyCespa managing director Paul Greenwell said: “This is a significant milestone in the Milton Keynes Recovery Park project, and one which has been achieved just 20 months after AmeyCespa was named preferred bidder.
“The facility will make a huge difference to the amount of household waste being landfilled in the borough, as well as increasing recycling and generating enough electricity to power 11,000 homes each year. I look forward to seeing it take shape over the coming months.”
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