LAWR

REFUSE-DERIVED FUEL Right on cue: Greenway clears the RDF table he increasing cost of landfill has made sending waste to landfill progressively uneconomic. As the cost of landfill tax has risen, businesses and waste operators have been obliged to explore alternatives to landfill, one of which has been the production and export of RDF. The key end destinations for UK-exported RDF, in terms of volume, include countries such as the Netherlands and Germany. This is where Greenway Waste Recycling exports its RDF to and this opportunity has provided many benefits to the firm. With its headquarters based in Northern Ireland, the Greenway Group first established its base in commercial waste processing and plastics recycling in 2000. The firm has a current turnover of £16m but aims to get to £25m in the near future. The Group descended on England for the first time last year and opened its waste and recycling treatment facility in Telford in the first quarter of 2014. The seven-acre site was previously owned by waste treatment specialist Pink Skips, who had occupied the site for 15 years before it went bust in 2013. That led to the waste processing plant shutting down while a new tenant was found – Greenway. Key recyclables The Telford plant allows Greenway to produce RDF for export to energy-from- waste plants. The facility also treats commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, including items such as paper, plastics and cardboard. Before any load of C&I waste is admitted on to the plant it goes through background checks. The deliverer needs to have a licence. Once a load of C&I waste has come into the plant, it goes through a picking line where all the recyclables go through to get processed. Anything that is left goes through a shredder and is then baled to become RDF. Greenway usually exports around 850 to 900 tonnes of RDF per week. Bales are loaded onto trucks destined for the Netherlands, Germany or Sweden. Once it arrives into mainland Europe, the RDF is used for feedstock for energy- from-waste facilities and burned. Expansion plans Moist waste with heat may potentially combust. So, Greenway also takes measures to prevent fires. In a statement, the firm says it "matches what is going into the facility to what is going out". To minimise the chance of an outbreak, Greenway aims to extend the site at some point this year, ensuring more space to store shredded waste away from the main building. "There is nothing that comes in here that goes to landfill. If you sign up with us that is what you get," says Greenway UK commercial manager Michael Dowd. Greenway classes itself as one of the top three independent exporters of RDF in the UK – up alongside the likes of Sita, Biffa and Veolia. The firm is busy. Dowd says the business and team are expanding - new jobs are being created. He has been able to expand the Greenway team and has appointed five more commercial managers and two telesales employees since the company opened its doors last February. More than 50 staff work at the premises. "We are hoping to expand further across the country. At the moment we have not got a representative in the North East, Yorkshire or the South East," says Dowd. "We need other sites like Telford – satellite locations." Dowd also tells LAWR that Greenway has partnered up with local skip-hire waste specialist Cartwright Waste Disposal to help expand its operations. Speaking about the partnership, Dowd says: "We hope to start expanding our operations and working with everybody ranging from corner shops to corporate giants. "Heinz and yogurt giant Muller have bases in Ketley, Telford. It would be great to start processing their waste in the future. They have a lot of pots and tubs." Plans are also afoot to set up a possible 'Greenway Waste and Resources' brand in the near future, according to Dowd. With the RDF market still growing in Europe, it looks like Greenway will continue to blossom. Although the UK Snooker Championship may have left Telford, Greenway seems to have really and truly cleared the 'RDF table' and potted the black ball. " There is nothing that comes in here that goes to landfill. " 22 Local Authority Waste & Recycling April 2015 T clears the RDF table Telford was home to the UK Snooker Championship for three years from 2007 to 2010. Greenway Waste Recycling has also settled in here and the firm will be looking to run the table in order to help satisfy Europe's appetite for UK-exported refuse-derived fuel (RDF). Liz Gyekye visits the facility to find out more.

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