Banbury - Waste resource management consultancy specialist Wardell Armstrong LLP was commissioned by Viridor Laing Ltd to secure 25 environmental permits needed for Europe’s largest ever PFI recycling and waste project in Greater Manchester – an unprecedented achievement on a Private Finance Initiative project of this size, and for some of the largest waste treatment facilities consented so far in the UK.

Back in 2007 it looked like an extremely tall order, with 23 individual planning applications and the 25 Environment Agency permits needed for 36 facilities across nine local authorities to manage the 1.1 million tonnes of household waste produced annually by over 2.27 million people over 25 years.

Stephen Barnes, associate director of environmental permitting for Wardell Armstrong LLP said: “We established a close and cooperative working relationship with the local authorities and the Environment Agency right from the start to resolve any issues as they arose. Together we even took a major legislation change in our stride, when waste management licences and PPC permits became environmental permits and we had to convert some that had already been granted. Combined with rigorous assessments in critical areas like air dispersion modelling, noise monitoring, noise calculation and ecology, we’ve been able to deliver the right results.”

The project involved addressing the inevitable public concerns about the potential air quality and noise issues of waste treatment plants sited in some cases less than 50 meter from residential areas and workplaces – locations unavoidable in such heavily urbanised areas, and necessary for staying close to sources of waste.

There were also tough and technically demanding standards to be met – especially in the case of technologies and processes relatively new to the UK , such as anaerobic digestion, in-vessel composting and mechanical biological treatment plants, as well as household waste recycling centres and transfer loading stations.

Four key mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facilities in Greater Manchester involve a combination of anaerobic digestion and combined heat and power technologies, taking residual organic material through an anaerobic digestion process and producing a biogas which can be used to generate renewable electricity for export back to the grid – in total about 8MW.

The first developments are now being brought on stream, with the others coming into operation over the next year or so – helping Greater Manchester to divert waste from landfill, achieve recycling targets, move up the waste hierarchy and lead the way in intelligent waste management.

Quelle: Wardell Armstrong LLP

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