The Remondis UK site at Carr Lane, Prescot, Merseyside

Waste management company Remondis UK (part of German-owned company Remondis) is to open a hazardous waste management site at Carr Lane in Prescot, Merseyside, which it describes as ‘the best example of its kind’ in Europe.

The facility, which is due to become fully operational ‘by the end of July’ and will provide ‘just over’ 70 full time jobs, will process hazardous and non-hazardous waste materials, including ‘photographic film, paints, oils, cleaning products and laboratory smalls’.

Remondis expects the site to process up to 69,000 tonnes of hazardous waste, 330 per cent more than the 16,000 tonnes currently handled by the company at its site in Blackrod, Bolton. Around 40 employees from the Bolton site will be moved to the Prescot site as part of the company’s expansion plans.

This expansion will allow the site to run 24-hours a day year round and will make it ‘uniquely positioned to handle emergency spillage operations’.

Reported to be the ‘largest undercover materials recovery facility in the UK’, the facility will be a ‘total containment’ site, meaning no waste will be handled outside, whilst air and liquid waste emissions will reportedly be monitored or filtered before leaving the plant.

David Winstanley, Managing Director at Remondis UK, said: “Carr Lane is the first new build, fully compliant SG 5.06 site in the UK [a guidance note for the recovery and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste implemented by the Environment Agency], and the best example of its kind, we believe, in Europe.

“All waste is handled within purpose-built structures with full monitoring systems for air and liquid waste emissions, which ensures nothing leaves the site without being checked.”

Local opposition

However, local residents and Local Liberal Democrats have condemned the opening of the facility, saying it will “seriously reduce air quality for Prescot residents”, highlighting concerns with the plant’s proximity to a planned residential project in the adjacent land.

Campaigner and Liberal Democrat Carl Cashman said: “Why does Knowsley Council take away everything we need in our town and build everything we don’t want? Politics aside, this is terrible for Prescot.

“It seems that Knowsley Council can only see the benefit of extra council tax, rather than the health of the community and our area’s environmental wellbeing.”

Remondis has said that it has fully complied with all environmental requirements.

Facility sets ‘a new benchmark for the hazardous waste industry’

Indeed, the new site has won praise from the Environment Agency and the Environmental Services Association after representatives toured the £10 million facility last week (30 May).

Steve Moore, North West Director at the Environment Agency, said: “It is fantastic to see a global business like Remondis starting to make a real impact in the UK. The site here at Prescot, Merseyside, will obviously set a new benchmark for the hazardous waste industry.

“The thinking that has gone into the design of this plant is exceptional – both in terms of creating an effective business process and keeping environmental protection at its heart.”

Similarly, Barry Dennis, Director General of the Environmental Services Association commented: “This site emphasises the way in which our industry has matured, highlighting the technology now available to treat the resources which other people call waste.

“Such a modern site demonstrates how we can reuse, recover and extract value from all waste streams. Indeed, we should be talking about resource management, not waste management.”

Remondis states that it attempts to ‘return as much material as possible to the commercial cycle through closed-loop recycling’. It does this by operating a ‘complete chain of services’ itself, from logistics and sorting to the marketing of the recovered materials and fuels.

David Winstanley added: “With more than four decade’s experience in the UK market, we are confident that this investment will benefit the country’s economy. It will see our operational capacity increase by more than 330 per cent, allowing for the safe and professional processing, transfer and treatment of significant volumes of hazardous and non-hazardous waste material.”

Read more about Remondis UK.