press release
Issued on behalf of: NORFOLK ENVIRONMENTAL WASTE SERVICES LTD
Issue date: 20.3.09
NEWS WELCOMES NEW COMPOSTING FACILITY, WHICH WILL REDUCE LANDFILL AND CHEMICAL FERTILISER USE
Norfolk Environmental Waste Services (NEWS) has welcomed the decision by Norfolk County Council planners today (20th March) to grant them and local farmer, Roger Crane, planning permission to develop a new state-of-the-art composting facility at Wood Farm, Marsham, north Norfolk.
NEWS’ and Crane & Sons (Farms) Ltd’s new composting plant will receive ‘green’ and organic waste from household and trade collections. A large percentage of this material is currently sent to landfill. The end product is a soil improver, which will be used on Mr Crane’s agricultural land and reduce his reliance on chemical fertilisers. It uses a completely natural and very efficient process to dispose of organic waste that increases recycling and significantly reduces the county’s reliance on landfill sites.
The new plant forms a key element of both national and regional plans and policies for waste, including the UK Waste Strategy, which aims to increase composting capacity across the whole country.
The composting facility uses a completely natural and environmentally friendly process, without the use of added chemicals – similar to a garden compost heap, but on a much larger scale – to turn garden waste, such as grass cuttings, hedge trimmings and weeds and mixed kitchen waste from households and commercial kitchens into a soil improver and ‘green’ alternative to chemical fertiliser and will be used on Mr Crane’s agricultural land.
The new 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.
The composting plant has been specifically designed to control noise and odour. The modern design eliminates odour by sucking air from the buildings and compost and cleaning it through special filters. In addition to this, the proposed facility has been specifically designed so that most of the operations take place indoors, thus containing noise. Traffic to and from the site will not pass through the village of Marsham and will access the site directly from either the A140 or B1149 main roads.
The bulk of the material composted at Marsham will be separately collected garden waste from houses and local recycling centres throughout the Broadland and North Norfolk District Council areas. The remainder will be food waste from household kitchens and similar commercial sources such as restaurants, canteens and schools, which will be mixed in with the garden waste. The food waste will mainly comprise cooked food, vegetable peelings and plate scrapings. The process is similar to home composting but on a much larger scale and within a contained system including forced aeration (drawing air through the compost), moisture and temperature controls. The plant is designed to comply with strict environmental and hygiene standards and will be regularly inspected and monitored by both the Environment Agency and DEFRA.
Richard Varvel, Engineering Projects Manager at NEWS, said: “Up until now, there have been no sites north of Norwich permitted to accept food waste for composting. Local Authorities and businesses are being urged to look for new alternatives in order to increase recycling rates and divert waste away from landfill. It is economically unviable to continue sending organic waste to landfill when it can be composted in a more sustainable, cost effective and environmentally friendly manner. Recent studies have shown there to be a lack of new facilities able to accept food waste and the Marsham plant will help to meet future needs. We also believe a rural farm location is right in this instance as the compost produced will be used on the farm, thus reducing haulage traffic and the associated environmental impact.”
Norfolk’s district councils are already amongst the best performers nationally for recycling and the new composting plant will play an important part in helping Norfolk to develop a sustainable future. Rural jobs and the associated construction project will also result from this approved application.
NEWS hopes that the plant will be operational by the beginning of this coming winter.
NEWS can be contacted on 01603 891892 and at news@norfolk-waste.co.uk, with further information on recycling available at www.norfolk-waste.co.uk
-ENDS-
Press information:
Peter Treglown, Four: 01603 627294, mobile 07768 176622, peter@fouragency.co.uk
Steve Jenkins, Norfolk Environmental Waste Services, 01603 891892, steve.jenkins@norfolk-waste.co.uk
Notes to editors:
The process
Food Waste material will spend an average of two weeks within the vessels, where it will start breaking down. The process is completely natural, the same as in any garden compost heap, and no chemicals are added to any stage of the procedure. However, as the process is carried out within a sealed vessel, air, moisture and temperature can be controlled so that conditions are optimised for the micro-organisms to work at maximum efficiency. As a result, the composting is extremely quick and highly efficient. The entire process is completed within eight weeks.
The finished material is screened, after which it is ready for use on agricultural land or for topsoil manufacture.
There is no burning or other treatment of the material brought to the site: just normal composting activity.
About NEWS
NEWS is a leading waste management company based in Horsham St Faith and is at the forefront of innovative new approaches to the handling and management of waste. NEWS has a pioneering approach to recycling and reuse of waste materials – their recycling centre at Costessey is one of the most modern in Europe and was the first of its kind in this country, becoming the benchmark facility for waste recycling in Britain. Through their sister company, SRM, NEWS has recently gained planning permission for the construction of a groundbreaking scheme for the recycling of general waste through the mechanical biological treatment process, also at Costessey.
mailto:news@norfolk-waste.co.uk
Proposed Marsham Composting Operation Plant
