A waste recovery facility in Bargeddie has embarked on a new contract which will see them handle up to 190,000 tonnes of black-bag waste a year from five council areas.
Viridor’s materials recovery facility on Langmuir Road began taking household waste two weeks ago from across North Lanarkshire and neighbours Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire under the £700 million, 25-year Clyde Valley residual waste project.
The bags of non-recyclable household waste – which would otherwise be sent to landfill – are now being treated to produce a refuse-derived fuel, which is then sent to the firm’s energy recovery facility at Dunbar to be burned at high temperatures to produce 258 gigawatt hours of low-carbon electricity a year.
Robert Steenson, North Lanarkshire’s executive director of enterprise and communities, said: “This is a significant project for the five local authorities – both as the first partnership of its kind in Scotland and in its contribution to managing household waste more effectively.
“It means that the waste will now be diverted from landfill and transformed into electricity, with the Dunbar facility generating enough power for the equivalent of 70,656 homes.”
Viridor has invested in state-of-the-art technology at its local plant, and officials say the project will result in the creation of apprenticeships, work placements and training workshops for businesses.
Steven Don, the company’s head of local authority contracts, said: “The Bargeddie hub is now receiving waste just in time for the very busy post-festive period; and the sophisticated technology at Bargeddie improves waste treatment, maximising the opportunities to recycle while putting non-recyclable waste to work to generate electricity.”
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