Shanks Plc (Shanks) yesterday (6 March), opened a new mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facility at Southern Resource Park in Barrow, Cumbria, with full service commencing on 1 April.

Along with Shanks’ Northern Resource Park MBT facility near Carlisle (which opened in December 2011), the new 75,00 tonne plant will help Shanks fulfil its obligation of processing around 180,000 tonnes of household waste annually, as required under its 25-year, £700 million waste contract with Cumbria County Council.

The company claimed that the opening of the Barrow site will ‘reduce the amount of methane the county produces’, save the council ‘millions of pounds in landfill tax’ and divert ‘around 85 per cent of the waste processed from landfill’.

Household waste collected from residents across Barrow, South Lakeland and Eden will be sorted (with recyclables removed for processing) and shredded. Any remaning waste will then be anaerobically digested for a period of between 12 and 15 days before being further screened to recover organic fines and metals. Any remaining waste is then landfilled.

In addition the process also produces Solid Recoverable Fuel (SRF), that can be burned to provide an alternative source of energy to traditional fossil fuels

According to a statement on its website, Cumbria County Council collects 180,000 tonnes of household waste a year but with the opening of the second MBT plant, expects this to drop to 30,000 tonnes.

The remaining waste is expected to be ‘bulky, non-recyclable items’, which will will be sent to landfill. The council states that there will be no change to the way residents’ bins are collected.

‘Massive step forward’

Speaking at the opening of the Barrow site, Councillor Norman Clarkson, Chairman of Cumbria County Council, said: “We are changing waste from being something that was previously just buried and disposed of into a resource which has value and saves us using other fossil fuels. In short, we are giving waste a second life and being cleaner, greener and more cost-effective."

Councilllor Stewart Young of Cumbria County Council’s added: “It’s a massive step forward for Cumbria to have both of our MBT plants open and operational. We have revolutionised the way we deal with waste in the county so that we are greener, more cost-effective and more sustainable for the future. Sending large amounts of waste to landfill was quite simply no longer a viable option economically or environmentally."

Likewise, Peter Dilnot, Chief Executive of Shanks, stated: “We are delighted to have opened this state-of-the-art facility which will transform the way Cumbria deals with its household waste. We look forward to working with the authority and local residents to make more from Cumbria’s waste by increasing recycling and creating renewable energy.”

Shanks states that the Barrow plant will create up to 15 permanent jobs, as well as 50 jobs during the construction process.

Read more about Shanks’ Southern Resource Park.