LAWR

Going behind the scenes at Viridor's Ford MRF Viridor's Ford MRF is producing high quality outputs and has been labelled as one of the most technologically advanced facilities in the country. Liz Gyekye paid a visit to it to find out what happens. en minutes of walking from Ford Station in West Sussex and I am wondering if I am going in the right direction. I am following the map I printed out but the place is eerily quiet. I walk down fur- ther and see a sign pointing to the MRF (phew) and an aircraft model (this place used to be a world-famous RAF airfield base). It is an impressive building on first sight. You wouldn't think a MRF lay behind the airfield – it is so quiet. I am greeted by Viridor's Ford MRF team and West Sussex County Council (WSCC). The MRF is operated by Viridor on behalf of WSCC. It was formed in rela- tion to a three-way partnership under a 29-year PFI contract where WSCC is the waste disposal authority working with seven districts and boroughs (Ds&Bs) who are responsible for collecting recy- cling and waste from the kerbside [waste collection authorities] and Viridor as West Sussex's recycling contractor. The PFI contract started in 2004 and all of the key infrastructure which included design, build and operation of five transfer stations, upgrade of the HWRCS network and construction of a state-of-the-art purpose built flagship MRF was completed by March 2008. Viridor national organics and recy- cling manager Bill Griffiths says: "To ensure this high quality and to deliver the value everyone in the chain has to play their part - the role of the house- holder is to put the right materials of the right quality into their kerbside bin. The key message from us to the householder is please may we have your recycling 'clean, dry and loose'. The reason the quality is so good at Ford MRF is because it has been specifically designed around the materials that are collected by the Ds&Bs and brought to us by WSCC. Prior to designing Ford MRF, Viridor undertook detailed analysis of the kerb- side materials generated in West Sussex, So, we knew what the relevant propor- tions were – paper, plastic, metal, glass and waste." So, how does the actual process work? The MRF handles a specified list of tar- geted materials (paper and card, plastic bottles, steel and aluminium cans and foil and glass bottles and jars) using mechanical and optical sorting to recov- er recyclables. It can handle up to 73,500 tonnes per year. Once quality checked the material then passes up conveyors and goes through a trommel, ballistic separator, magnets, eddy currents and optical sorters, which separates all the materials into 13 different types and grades of outputs. At the end of the process quality is remarkable. Materials are then baled quality checked and sent to reprocessors to be turned into new products and items. The non-recyclable material output from the MRF is currently running at 6.5% which directly reflects the qual- ity of the input. Viridor's routine input analysis demonstrates that some of the non-recyclable material is actually wet paper, so a target item but of the wrong quality – they need recycling to be "clean, dry and loose". This detailed input analysis is fed back by Viridor monthly to WSCC and the Ds&Bs to inform their education and communica- tions programme which enables targeted and efficient campaigns to be rolled out to tackle the issue at source to deliver the required quality improvements. It seems that a key theme from my visit is that partnership is key to making the system work. WSCC waste preven- tion manager Jules Whitney says: "We are all committed to making the part- nership work. We set up a Recycling Quality Forum several years ago and a lot of effort went in to share best practices and deliver clear consistent messages." Strong communication messages have helped to improve the collection of glass from West Sussex homes. Since the kerbside commingled scheme was intro- duced countywide most Ds&Bs have reduced their glass bring bank collec- tions because there is less of a need, as people can now recycle their glass bot- tles and jars easily at home. Viridor's Ford MRF produces a high percentage of re-melt glass from a commingled output and the industry is impressed by this. Griffiths says that around 26% of its input tonnage is glass by weight and the MRF is achieving somewhere between 55-60% to re-melt. He adds: "The remaining glass is imploded down to 0 to 4mm glass aggregate. We can meet these glass and paper output qual- ity specifications because we get clean, dry and loose material in." On my way back home, I think this is a great story where we see yester- day's waste being converted into a useful source material to make the products of tomorrow. 28 Local Authority Waste & Recycling April 2014 T MAPPING THE MRF April 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 29 Opportunity knocks for RDF Bywaters' David Rumble discusses the development potential for Europe's refuse derived fuel (RDF) markets and the financial and environmental opportunities this presents for UK local authorities. DF is a product formed from the residual frac- tion of general waste once recyclates have been recovered in mate- rials recycling facilities (MRFs). This material is then shredded to become a homogenous mass prior to baling and transportation to one of Europe's energy- from-waste (EfW) facilities. RDF offsets the use of traditional fossil fuels in ener- gy production whilst reducing the envi- ronmental impact of landfill and helping control future waste management costs through the avoidance of landfill tax. The quality of RDF impacts the gate fee charged for its disposal and is defined by its calorific value (typically 6MJ/ KG – 12MJ/KG) and also its consistency. RDF with a consistent high calorific value such as the material produced by Bywaters benefits not only from a lower gate fee but also very stable off-take demand. One way UK local authorities could optimise the potential of the RDF markets is to reduce the amount of food waste in their residual waste fraction through source segregation. This would improve the quality of their RDF and recyclates and well as producing a waste stream, which could be recycled and used to produce energy through pro- cesses such as anaerobic digestion. Despite the development of the European RDF market in recent years there remains a significant opportu- nity for growth and for us to reduce the amount of waste we send to land- fill in the UK. There is capacity both in European EfW facilities but just as importantly the transport routes needed to cost effectively backhaul the fuel, which keeps costs and emissions down. Transport costs of RDF are vital as for a market to be viable we have to get it facilities and dispose of it cheaper than we could in UK landfill. Whilst we continue to experience some reservations regarding the devel- opment of the European RDF market, with some feeling that we should man- age the material on our own shores, our informal conversations with local authorities indicates that there is no objection to development of European routes for RDF, as long as it can be dem- onstrated that there is an environmental advantage and a commercial beneficial. The reality is that the R1-rated facilities to which our RDF is being sent means that they recover both energy and heat and as a result are highly efficient. There are only a couple of these facilities in the UK making capacity and logistics a problem. Indeed, we would often have to travel further to a UK facility than a European one. UK R1 capacity looks unlikely to increase in the near future as neither the Government or industry is likely to foot the bill to retrofit existing facili- ties and financiers are not inclined to invest as they take a pan-European view where there remains plenty of capac- ity. However, the capacity issue is one that remains under review. In Defra's recently published 'Energy from Waste: A guide to the debate' report, it reiter- ated its intention to publish a call for evidence on the RDF export market. We welcome the opportunity to dem- onstrate the environmental benefits of the European RDF market but also to discuss the opportunity to develop its use in the UK where it is undoubtedly a lost resource. Probably the biggest restraint to the development of RDF markets has been the limitation of our own imaginations. Quite often it is thought of as too dif- ficult either geographically, logistically or administratively. The reality is that there are opportunities to develop new routes and facilities for this material if we are prepared to open our minds. There has been a lot of discussion recently about 'end of waste' status for RDF, which would mean it could be used in a non-WID (Waste Incineration Directive) compliant facilities. Our belief is that this is probably a step too far. In summary, whilst we would all love to see a UK market capable of sustain- ing all the RDF we produce we must be prepared to open our minds and take a wider European view, recognising the commercial and environmental benefits of waste as a fuel as opposed to landfill. R MAPPING THE MRF David Rumble is strategic development manager at Bywaters. Bywaters' flagship MRF in Lea Riverside in east London

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