New masterplan for future of Greengairs Landfill Site unveiled

Waste and resource management company FCC Environment (UK) Ltd has brought forward a new masterplan for the sustainable, long-term future of its Greengairs Landfill site in North Lanarkshire.The Scottish Government has identified a significant shortfall in developed waste treatment facilities capable of dealing with waste after the introduction of the forthcoming ban on the landfilling of food, paper, garden and any other biodegradable household waste before January 1, 2021.FCC’s proposed multi-million-pound, state-of-the-art waste management complex is designed to deal with this shortfall, whilst maintaining the current employment at Greengairs, as well as creating hundreds of new construction jobs and long-term high-quality employment opportunities throughout its lifetime.Central to this masterplan will be the construction of an Energy from Waste (EfW) facility, the Drumgray Energy Recovery Centre (DERC) that will receive pre-treated residual, non-hazardous waste otherwise destined for landfill. FCC will use proven energy-from-waste technology, which will thermally treat the waste to generate electricity and heat. The Drumgray ERC will accept up to 300,000 tonnes of residual household and business waste per year, enough to export circa 25.5MW of electricity and the potential to supply heat to local homes and businesses.FCC owns and operates six EfW facilities throughout the UK, with the most recent one developed at Millerhill, just outside Edinburgh. In partnership with Midlothian and the City of Edinburgh councils, FCC designed, constructed, financed and now operate the Millerhill facility, which now accepts the residual, household waste from within the two local authorities.With the Proposal of Application Notice (PoAN) now submitted to North Lanarkshire Council, this has kick-started a comprehensive consultation programme.