NORFOLK TO INCREASE COMPOSTING
18-12-07
Crane & Sons (Farms) Ltd, in collaboration with Norfolk Environmental Waste Services (NEWS), has announced plans to build a new ‘in-vessel’ composting facility as part of Norfolk’s drive to recycle at least 50% of its domestic waste by 2020. The composted material will be used on farmland as a soil improver and to reduce the use of chemical fertilisers.
The new facility, which is being proposed by farmer Roger Crane, in partnership with NEWS, is planned on the site of an existing composting plant on Mr Crane’s Wood Farm at Marsham, north of Norwich. It will receive ‘green’ waste from household collections in North Norfolk and Broadland and recycling centres within Norfolk.
Steve Jenkins, local authority contracts manager for NEWS said: “The amount of recycling and composting taking place in the UK, and particularly in Norfolk, is growing. But it is recognised that there is still a lot to do. In the recently published UK National Waste Strategy 2007, new targets have been set to recycle and compost at least 50% of the domestic waste collected from households by 2020.
“Food waste is seen as the next waste stream that must be dealt with differently and this facility is designed to meet this requirement. We have already achieved a huge amount in Norfolk. The introduction of mixed dry recyclable collections by Norfolk’s Councils, and the processing of this material that we undertake at our recycling facility at Costessey, has seen Norfolk become one of the top three recycling counties in the UK. An increase in composting, particularly of kitchen waste, will bring environmental benefits and divert yet more waste away from landfill sites.”
The bulk of the material that will be composted at this new facility will be separately collected garden waste and mixed kitchen and garden waste from domestic households and similar sources of commercial material.
The proposed composting facility will be what is called an ‘in vessel’ process. The initial composting will take place in fully enclosed composting vessels that are attached to a completely enclosed waste reception building. This is necessary in order to meet the very strict environmental and legal controls required to ensure that the material is sanitised and that the operation complies with strict hygiene standards.
All the material delivered to Wood Farm will arrive and be unloaded inside the reception building where it will be shredded and mixed before loading into the composting vessels.
The end product is a soil improver which will meet the nationally recognised PAS 100 compost standard, this will benefit the agricultural land on which it will be applied, it is completely ‘green’ and is a valuable resource that comes entirely from local waste material.
Mr Crane, assisted by NEWS, has applied to Norfolk County Council planners for planning permission.
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