Research and development
We have a strong record of innovation at SITA UK, from service delivery to waste treatment technologies.
Our portfolio of sustainable waste management solutions includes in-vessel composting, mechanical biological treatment (MBT), energy-from-waste (EfW) and gas-to-energy schemes. We are also developing a number of gasification facilities.
Gasification
In 2009 we teamed up with waste management development company Cyclamax, to develop six gasification and recycling-led Resource Parks, which will treat over 600,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste. The agreement is one of the biggest ever commitments to developing gasification capacity in the UK and will produce enough electricity to power more than 85,000 homes.
Green fuel
For the first time in the UK, landfill gas is being used to generate a carbon-saving ‘green’ fuel. In partnership with Gasrec, the UK’s first commercial producer of liquid biomethane fuel, liquid biomethane is being generated from landfill gas collected at our Albury landfill site in Surrey.
The project to move into fuel production has been in development for four and a half years. The plant obtained its environmental permit to operate in 2007.
Gas is extracted and used in the generation of electricity at over 35 SITA UK sites in the UK. In this instance rather than produce electricity the site has been designed to produce a liquefied fuel. The plant is expected to produce more than five million litres of fuel per year, which is sufficient to fuel up to 150 HGVs or up to 400 LGVs. Used as an alternative to diesel, this will save 15,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
This fuel is now being used in a trial of a dual-fuel refuse collection vehicle in Kensington. This unit, which went into service in September 2009, is able to switch between diesel and this bio-fuel, which has significant sustainability advantages over other alternatives.
It is hoped that the dual-fuel engine in the new vehicle will be able to substitute up to 65 per cent of the diesel used by normal engines with this renewable alternative.
Carbon dioxide emissions are expected to be reduced by around 14 per cent if this target is met, with carbon monoxide emissions anticipated to reduce by up to 98 per cent. It is also hoped the amount of nitrogen oxide produced by the engine would reduce from between 35 – 65 per cent.
The truck is also expected to be up to three decibels quieter than a normal collection vehicle thanks to its modified engine.
Wind power
SITA UK’s ongoing investments in energy through SITA Power allow us to investigate new methods of generating electricity from our portfolio. We are evaluating the feasibility of installing wind turbines on our landfill sites, following the success of the turbine at our Teesside plant. With a 16 kilowatt capacity, the 20 metre high turbine at our Teesside site is already offsetting some of the facility’s electricity consumption, helping to maximise its carbon-saving exports to the National Grid.
Materials recycling facilities
SITA UK’s newest recycling materials facility opened in April 2009 in West Sleekburn, Northumberland. The new £13 million facility can manage 120,000 tonnes of recycling and residual waste each year.
One of the first of its type in the UK, this materials recycling facility separates recyclable material using the latest technology. An air knife ejects light material, such as paper, from the size-segregated streams, whilst eddy current separators remove aluminium and electromagnets extract ferrous metals. Optical sorting equipment, capable of detecting and segregating PE and PET materials, is also used to remove all plastic containers to a separate storage bay.
Energy recovery centres
We have also obtained planning permission to build the North East Energy Recovery Centre (NEERC) which is a new generation combined heat and power (CHP) facility. It will produce renewable energy, reduce the need for landfill and help the North East combat climate change by generating 21 MW of electricity while managing up to 256,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste each year.
It’s not all new
Our landfill site in Packington, near Coventry, has been producing electricity for 21 years. The original turbine plant was constructed in 1988, with a waste heat boiler and steam turbine added in 1993.
Today, the plant exports an average of 45,000 MWh of electricity per annum. This provides enough power to support over 9,500 homes and off-sets 19,350 tonnes of CO2 per annum. The project is classified as a qualifying renewable technology under the government’s Renewables Obligation and is awarded Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) for every MWh of electricity exported to the grid.
Contact us for more information.