The new facility is to be built as part of a 25-year contract between Biffa and West Sussex County Council to treat the County’s residual municipal waste using the latest Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) technology.
The £1 billion (€1.18 billion) plus deal will see Biffa and the M+W Group’s UK team construct the MBT facility next to its Brookhurst Wood landfill site near Horsham, in the north of the county. It is estimated the facility will save the Council around £300 million (€356 million) over the life of the contract with up to 80% of the residual waste set to be diverted from landfill. It will also significantly reduce the carbon footprint of household waste management in the County.
Anaerobic digestion
The MBT facility, which received planning consent in April 2010, comprises an integrated mechanical sorting and anaerobic digestion plant, and a visitor centre. The contract will create up to 80 new jobs in West Sussex.
The Brookhurst Wood site is the first project Biffa and M+W Group are collaborating on, and is proof of the excellent teamwork relationship developed between the two companies. Dr John Casey, Director of Engineering at Biffa Group stated “Biffa have been working for a number of months with M+W Group’s UK team and are pleased to announce that we are going to work more closely and further enhance the already excellent working relationship. M+W Group is a leading EPC contractor and with their expertise in the waste and energy industry, they have an enviable track record in delivering high technology integrated processes and construction projects on time and within budget”.
Biffa was named as preferred bidder for the proposed new waste management facility at Brookhurst Wood by West Sussex County Council in September 2008. Financial close on the project was achieved by the team on June 28th 2010 and construction is scheduled to commence during Q3 2010. It is planned that the plant will be operational in 2013 and when at full capacity will produce up to 3.5 MW of renewable energy, enough to power around 7,000 homes.
“We are delighted to have been appointed by Biffa and to partner them on this new and exciting project. The financial close of the project is credit to the team’s hard work and we are looking forward to developing our relationship with Biffa and working together on future projects,” commented M+W UK’s Managing Director, Peter Greenhalgh. “On working with Biffa over the past few months, we see them as being a thorough and professional forward-thinking organisation and can only see success going forward with them.”
The facility’s mechanical sorting plant will also produce a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF). Subject to a joint exercise by the Biffa team and West Sussex County Council to find a long-term sustainable market for the RDF, it will either be sent to a third party outlet or used to fuel an additional thermal treatment facility that will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat. If required, subject to planning and operating consents, the thermal treatment facility would also be constructed at the Brookhurst Wood site.
For additional information:
____________________________________________________________________
