Celebrations as waste plant reaches ‘massive milestone’

Roads have already been built around the £77m taxpayer-funded facility in South Yorkshire, but now foundations are being prepared for buildings to host two different treatment processes.

The project has been jointly commissioned by Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster Councils and is being built under the auspices of the so-called BDR Waste Partnership.

Residents who live close to the former colliery site, in Bolton Road, Manvers, near Wath-upon-Dearne, campaigned against the scheme, but failed to persuade planners that it was a danger.

Waste delivered from the three councils will first undergo “mechancial biological treatment” to remove reusuable materials like glass and plastic.

Organic waste will also be removed and placed in an anaerobic digesting plant which will produce compost and some bio-gas which will be used on site for generating heat and electricity.

The non-recyclable waste will then be compressed into what the operating companies, Shanks Waste Management and Scottish and Southern Energy, call a solid recovered fuel.

This will be loaded onto lorries and burned in a new power-generating plant which is being built next to Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire.

Rotherham councillor Richard Russell, the chairman of the three councils’ waste board, said: “This is a massive milestone in this challenging project.

“Huge amounts of household waste from across the three boroughs will be diverted from landfill and turned into solid recovered fuel as well as guaranteed high levels of recycling.”

Nigel Catling from Shanks said; “We are proud to be delivering on this project and delighted to have reached this important stage of the works.

“We look forward to maintaining the successful working relationship with our BDR partners throughout the duration of the process.”

The councils have signed a deal to pay the two firms, which are operating under the name 3SE, to deal with household waste from the three councils for 25 years.