Kirklees Metropolitan Council is situated in West Yorkshire with the principal towns of Huddersfield, Batley and Dewsbury. With a population of 390,000 people, it is one of the largest unitary authorities in the UK.
SITA UK has a 25 year contract with the council, which began in 1998, working with the council to achieve a minimum 60 per cent diversion from landfill.
This is being achieved with a 25,000 tonnes per annum materials recycling facility, a 150,000 tpa waste transfer station and a 136,000 tpa energy-from-waste (EfW) plant, producing approximately70 GWh of electricity per annum (equal to the annual electricity supply for around 15,000 homes). Bottom ash, which is a by-product of the EfW process, is taken to SITA Tees Valley, where it is recycled and used as an aggregate for road construction
Materials recycling facility
Capable of handling up to 25,000 tonnes of separated and commingled recyclable material each year, the facility draws its recyclable waste supply from green bins and operational liners as well as community recycling centres.
A conveyor takes the material - mainly consisting of paper, plastics and metal cans - through a sorting system where it is mechanically separated into different streams, then manually screened into final product. The material is baled and collected before it is taken off-site for recycling. Material passes under a magnet that extracts the ferrous cans, then through an eddy current separator, which extracts the aluminium cans. The cans are baled and sent to reprocessors for recycling.
Community recycling centres and composting
Members of the public can bring their bulky waste materials along with recyclable materials to five centres, which accept a wide range of material including glass, metals, plastics, paper, cardboard, textiles, oil, chemicals, garden waste, soil and rubble, wood, scrap metal and electrical equipment.
Green waste is taken from the recycling centres for composting. Using a ‘windrow’ system, the waste biodegrades under controlled conditions and, over time, this produces a good quality compost. Currently, Kirklees composts around 11,000 tonnes per annum.
Contact us
SITA UK
Diamond Street
Kirklees
Huddersfield
West Yorkshire
HD1 6BZ
Tel: +44 (0) 1484 541355
