PROJECT GREEN

A Partnership for Sustainable Waste Management

www.prosiectgwyrdd.co.uk

Working in partnership with

What will happen to your rubbish?

The majority of your waste will be recycled and composted through your kerbsideservice; diverting plastics, tins, paper and glass for recycling and your greengarden and food waste for composting. Project Gwyrdd will deliver a solution withViridor to produce energy from the remaining ‘black bag’ waste which historicallyhas gone to landfill.

Five local authorities havebeen working togethersince 2009 to deliver aservice for this remainingwaste and a number ofcompanies have competedagainst each other to winthe contract. Thepartnership will deliver onaverage 172,000 tonnes of residual waste to the facility each year, after the WelshGovernment recycling targets have been met.

It is no longer environmentally or financially viable to continue to send residualwaste to be buried in landfill sites.

Extract from the Welsh Government’s Towards Zero Waste Strategy:

Our Policy is to manage waste in accordancewith the waste hierarchy… waste preventionand reuse, followed by recycling and thenenergy recovery… The Welsh Government

therefore wishes to see energy from waste withhigh efficiency as being the primary way to

manage residual waste”

“

Why can we not continue to landfill? Is energy from waste abetter solution?

European Union Legislation and Welsh Government Law restrict the amount ofwaste local authorities can bury in landfill sites.

When waste biodegrades in landfillsites, in the absence of oxygen, itproduces methane which is one ofthe main contributing factors toclimate change. By recycling andcomposting your waste in line withWelsh Government targets andtreating the remaining waste toproduce heat, steam andelectricity, there is a significantenvironmental benefit. This is whyall local authorities in Wales will bemoving away from the reliance oflandfill to proven waste treatmenttechnology.

The Partnership has been negotiating with anumber of companies for the last threeyears, evaluating complex technical, legaland financial areas of the project. This longprocurement exercise has allowed thepartnership to agree the best terms on thevarious areas, with the Final Tender mainlyfocussing on the cost and the legal contract.

Waste Awareness Wales

Landfill space isquickly running out inWales. Energy from

waste technology offersa more sustainable

solution for dealing withthe waste which we cannot recycle, by turning itinto a vital source of heatand power for our homesand local businesses”

“

Historically we have all relied onlandfill sites

Where is the facility and what is energy from waste?

The facility is located at Trident Park, at the old Nippon Glass factory site off OceanWay in Cardiff. The plant received planning permission from Cardiff Council in June2010 and has an Environmental Permit to operate from the Environment Agency.

Energy from waste (incineration) is a safe, tried and tested technology which isused extensively in WesternEurope and Scandinaviaalongside high recycling andcomposting performance.The process involves burningwaste at high temperaturesunder controlled conditions toproduce heat, steam andelectricity. The facilities arestrictly regulated by theEnvironment Agency underfar more stringent conditionsthan other industrialcombustion processes.

The electricity produced will be sold to the grid. This ‘subsidises’ the wastedisposal cost providing a financial benefit to the residents in the Partner Councilareas.

“ Incineration of wastewhen controlled by the

current statutory frameworkdoes not pose a risk tohuman health or to the

environmentChartered Institute of Environmental Health”

Artist impression of Trident Park

Two types of ash are produced, Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) (approximately 20%of the weight of the waste put into the plant) and Fly Ash / Air Pollution ControlResidues (APCR) (2 to 3% of the weight of the waste put into the plant). The IBAwill be recycled into an aggregate which can be used as a material for constructionor road building. Initially the APCR will be disposed of at a suitably licensed facilitybut as recycling processes develop, Viridor have an obligation to review thesepossibilities to ensure this waste is recycled in the future.

Viridor has also begun discussions with a major energy company about thepossibility of piping heat from the facility to properties in Cardiff. This willsignificantly increase the energy efficiency of the plant, providing low cost, lowcarbon energy to users in the vicinity of the site.

“ Viridor has committed to recycling 100% ofthe Incinerator Bottom Ash. If they fail torecycle it all, financial deductions will be

imposed on themMike Williams, Prosiect Gwyrdd”

Residual waste arrivesBulk transfer and streetRefuse CollectionVehicles (RCVs) deliverresidual waste forprocessing in the fullyenclosed reception hall.

A Typical Energy from Waste Process

Bunker andgrab cranesWaste is mixedand loaded intothe hopper.Hydraulic ramsthe push the wateinto one of twoincineration lines.

Waste becomes fuelMaterial is fed into afurnace at a controlledrate for burning at hightemperatures on amoving grate.An adequate air supply ismaintained throughinjection of air into thecombustion chamber.This ensures optimumand completecombustion of the waste.

Flue gas cleaningOne third of the plant is devoted to the cleaningof exhaust gases.Dry, ground-hydrated lime is used to removeacid gases. Activated carbon is used to absorbheavy metals, dioxins, furans and VolatileOrganice Compounds (VOCs).Clean flue gases, steam and CO2 then exit andare discharged through the stack.

Boiler/EconomiserSteam is thensuperheated todrive a turbine in thepower plant.

Emissions monitoring pointTelemetrically linked to pollutionprevention and control systems.

ResidueThe remaining dust andthe reaction productsare collected in very finefilters. The residues ofthe filters are collectedby screw conveyorsand directed to aresidue silo.The residue silo isdesigned to safelydischarge the productvia a loading chute intotrucks and is thendisposed of at alicensed facility (if notrecycled).

High pressuresteam to turbines

Electricity to theNational Grid

Low pressuresteam/hot waterprovided to localindustry or housing

Recycled consumablesMetals and bottom ash areremoved and fully recycled.

Steam is condensed and wateris fed back into the systems.

Who regulates these facilities and how are the environment andhuman health protected?

All energy from waste systems have to abide by the Waste Incineration Directive.This legislation has the tightest emission standards of any thermal processregulated in the European Union.

The Environment Agency implements these standards through the EnvironmentalPermit. The operator of the plant has to have a permit before they can acceptwaste. Modern incinerators generally operate with actual emissions at a fraction ofthe permitted levels.

The contribution of energy from waste plants to UK national air emissions is verysmall and has been estimated as low as 0.27%. The majority of contributingfactors include domestic heating (14%), road traffic (23%) with the remainingcontribution from industry.

There is a significant environmental benefit of diverting residual waste away fromlandfill to produce green electricity through modern energy from waste technology.

An example of Viridors Control Room

How will the community benefit from this scheme?

Prosiect Gwyrdd and Viridor areworking together to ensure thatopportunities for employment andtraining are delivered through theconstruction and the operationalphase of the contract.

Viridor is investing over £185 millionin Trident Park, bring much neededjobs and investment to Cardiff in thecurrent challenging economicclimate.

A Community Benefit Fund will be established by Viridor from the start of theservice to support local projects in the 5 local authority areas. Funding will beawarded on a clear set of criteria based around ‘sustainability’, ‘local need’,‘community engagement’ and ‘education’.

An interactive Visitors Centre will also be built providing waste awarenesseducation.

“Over 100 people arecurrently employed on

site, the majority reside inWales, the developmentwill create over 360 jobs inthe peak of construction

and 36 full timeemployees

Viridor”

Construction of Trident Park and the Viridor visitors centre

How will the contract be monitored and the impact on the roadsminimised?

Cardiff Planning Department primarily will determine which routes can be used,however the Partnership will have control over the agreed terms in the contract,through a PerformanceFramework. This documentensures that Viridor can carryout the agreed terms of thecontract and if they do notcomply with the agreed terms,Viridor will suffer financialdeductions and for serious orrepeated breaches, thecontract can ultimately beterminated.

The Partnership’s waste isapproximately half the facilityinput and as such thePartnership will have direct control over those vehicles delivering its waste. Thelargest proportion of the partnership’s waste will come from Cardiff. These vehiclesare on Cardiff’s road network already and the additional waste from the otherpartners will be bulk loaded (to reduce vehicle numbers) before being delivered tothe facility.

There are significant environmental and financial benefits of the cooperativeapproach between the 5 Councils for treating residual waste.

Management of the contract will ensurethat Viridor will deliver to the very high

standards that they have agreed

“The planning condition willensure that no bulk vehicles willpass along any residential roadin Splott and Adamsdown,

with the exception of NewportRoad, Tyndal Street,

Central Link, Ocean Way and Rover Way

Mike Williams, Prosiect Gwyrdd”

Mike Williams, Prosiect Gwyrdd

“”

How has Prosiect Gwyrdd ensured best value for money for thetax payer and why do we have a 25 year contract?

The partnership has beennegotiating with a numberof companies for the lastthree years, evaluatingcomplex technical, legaland financial areas of theproject. This procurementexercise has allowed thepartnership to agree thebest financial, contractualand environmentalsolution for residents.

“There are clear benefits towaste authorities from interauthority collaboration…

sharing the cost of procurementand benefits from economies ofscale arising from the greatervolume of waste to attracttenders and securing better

contract price Defra”3rd Party Waste Prosiect Gwyrdd

Gate fee

(prices)

25 year contracts are an industry standard for waste projects such as this, regardless ofthe type of technology that is proposed. This is to ensure that the service is affordableand provides the best value for money to the public sector. The long term contract alsoincludes a fixed price for the contract duration at significantly lower inflation rate. Thisensures that over time, the price gets cheaper when compared to services which inflateat the normal rate. The Partnership has priority use of the facility and benefits from anumber of contractual guarantees, including pre-agreed performance levels, long termelectricity assumptions and in certain circumstances, a share of income if electricityprices and third party disposal costs are higher than predicted. Further benefits ofadopting a long-term contract is access to significant levels of Welsh Governmentfunding over the 25 year period.

For short term contracts the partnership wouldn’t achieve such good value, theassociated benefits and guarantees or the same level of control over the contract.

How do I get more information on the scheme?

The Project will be working with Viridor to provide events to give more information onthe scheme. The events will be held in Splott and Cardiff Bay.

Public Drop in Sessions:

1) March 4: Star Centre, Splott (CF24 2BZ), Upper Activity Area, 3 pm till - 5.30 pm2) March 5: County Hall, Cardiff Bay (CF10 4UW), Committee Room 1, 3 pm till 7.00 pm3) March 6: Moorland Community Centre, Splott (CF24 2LG), 5 pm till 8 pm4) March 7: Norwegian Church, Cardiff Bay (CF10 4PA), 3. 30 pm till 6. 30 pm

Viridor is the developer and is responsible for the planning consent and permitrequirements for Trident Park. Viridor will build and operate the facility.

Viridor can be contacted by email via cardiff@viridor.co.uk or by telephone through0800 4334 800.

Project Gwyrdd is the procurement project that will deliver the waste which remainsafter residents have recycled as much waste as possible. The partnership can becontacted via email at info@prosiectgwyrdd.co.uk or by telephone through 02920717523.