The facility, to be open in 2018, will divert more than 230,000 tonnes North Yorkshire’s and City of York’s household waste away from landfill
Amey, the British subsidiary of Ferrovial Services, has recently started waste treatment work on the Allerton Waste Recovery Park (Knaresborough, UK). Household waste collected in North Yorkshire and the city of York, which before had been sent to landfill, will now be delivered to the facility in to generate energy and reduce waste.
Construction began in January 2015 with the excavation of over 55,000 tonnes of earth in order to create the waste bunkers. Ever since, almost two million hours have been worked by over 700 employees in the construction programme.
In upcoming months, the plant will be fully tested, and the amount of waste treatment will increase continuously until the official opening in 2018. Once at operating at full capacity, the facility will divert more than 230,000 tonnes North Yorkshire’s and City of York’s household waste away from landfill, reducing the total amount being landfilled by over 90%. In addition, it will generate enough energy to power 40,000 homes in the area.
Mark James, Head of Construction at Allerton Waste Recovery Park, said:
“This is a really exciting time, after nearly three years of construction we are ready to start treating waste”.On the other hand, Councillor Andrew Lee Executive Member for Waste Management at North Yorkshire County Council declared: “This is the start of a new era of waste treatment for the county which will see us moving away from landfill operations and instead utilise household waste as a resource to generate energy”. Councillor Andrew Waller, Executive Member for the Environment at City of York Council added: “This is a big step forward for the project. We’ll continue to do everything we can to help York’s residents to reduce the amount of waste we produce and recycle more, but this plant through mechanical sorting and ‘digestion’ of organic waste will help to avoid landfill whilst also producing energy”. To find out more about the Allerton Waste Recovery Park in North Yorkshire, visit the following website here.
