09/07-09   -   Press releases

Sterecycle Secures Planning Consent for Recycling Plant in Cardiff

Sterecycle, a leading UK waste recycling technology company, is pleased to announce that it has been granted planning consent to build and operate a major new recycling plant at Wentloog, near Cardiff in Wales that will divert “black bag" household waste and unsorted commercial refuse from landfill.

Approval for the plant was given by Cardiff Council and paves the way for an investment of up to £50 million by the Company, creating 60 new long-term jobs for plant operators as well as employment for more than 100 during the construction phase. The plant, expected to commence commercial operations in spring 2011, will provide a clean alternative to mass burn incineration, a contentious local issue, as a means to achieving the UK’s obligations under the EU Landfill Directive.

It will have a capacity to process around 200,000 tonnes per annum of unsorted “black bag" household or commercial waste – equivalent to rubbish thrown annually into landfills by 400,000 people – and is expected to handle municipal waste from councils in South Wales.

The Wentloog plant will be the first of five new plants to be built and operated by Sterecycle as part of a £200 million expansion that will create up to 300 new jobs across the UK over a four year investment programme. The Company has pioneered the use of steam in large autoclaves for the commercial-scale treatment and recycling of household waste. Its maiden plant in Rotherham, Yorkshire, became the world’s first such facility to commence commercial-scale operations, in June 2008, and is in the process of doubling capacity. Sterecycle’s proprietary technology is able to recover 70% of delivered residual waste from landfill by first treating with steam and then separating it into a variety of reusable materials including an organic compost-like material, clean plastics, metals and glass.

Duncan Grierson, Chief Executive of Sterecycle, commented: “We are thrilled to have received approval from Cardiff Council to build our first plant in Wales. This is good news for the local councils since our plant will provide an innovative solution to reducing dependence on landfill. Our technology offers a clean alternative to the landfilling or incineration of waste. We will also be creating a significant number of long-term ‘green’ jobs for local people".

Notes to Editors:

Sterecycle is a waste recycling technology company focused on the diversion of household waste from landfill and the creation of green energy. Sterecycle’s proprietary autoclave process uses steam to sterilise and recycle 70% of the typical household waste stream, by converting ‘black-bag’ waste into c.50% organic fibre – sterefibre® – and 20% non-organics such as metal, plastic, brick and glass that can be recycled. sterefibre® is a clean compost-like material that has a wide variety of applications, such as a source for renewable energy, for land restoration and for the manufacture of cardboard boxes. The Sterecycle process is complementary to ‘source separation’ recycling and kerbside schemes as it treats the remaining black-bag waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill.

At present some 55% of all UK household waste is dumped into landfill sites where it biodegrades to produce methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas that is 23 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Sterecycle builds, owns and operates waste plants, charging gate fees per tonne for processing waste as a substitute for landfill. The Company has built the world’s 1st commercial scale autoclave plant for household waste in Yorkshire, with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes a year, treating black-bag waste from Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster Councils. The Sterecycle technology is lower cost than mass burn incineration, achieves significant levels of recycling and its waste management facilities require only a few months to gain planning permission compared with years for mass burn incineration.

16 million tonnes of municipal waste are landfilled every year in the UK. The British government is committed to reducing landfill and has increased Landfill Tax from £12 per tonne in 2003 to £40 per tonne in 2009, which will continue to increase by £8 per tonne each year to 2013 when it will reach a total of £72 per tonne. The Institute of Civil Engineers has estimated that over £10 billion of infrastructure investment is required by 2015 in order to meet the diversion targets of the EU Landfill Directive.