Groundworks Underway for Interim Waste Treatment Plant at Cotesbach

We are always looking at ways to reduce the amount of rubbish produced in Leicestershire and methods to reduce the amount we send to landfill.

Whilst Leicestershire has a good recycling rate we still need to send less waste to landfill, and part of the solution to this is waste treatment.

There are various methods of treatment available which recover valuable materials and lessen the impact on landfill sites.  Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) is the innovative technology chosen for the new waste treatment plant at Cotesbach.  The new facility will be processing residual waste collected by district councils, which cannot be collected for recycling or composting.  This new plant is designed to treat a minimum of 40,000 tonnes each year, and is due to open in spring 2010.

Once operational it is expected that the plant will process waste for five years, until the long-term waste treatment facility is up and running (scheduled to be operational from 2015).

Lafarge Aggregates and New Earth Solutions are working in partnership to build the new facility on a site currently used for landfill.  New Earth Solutions also operate successful MBT plants in Dorset and Kent.

The waste will be mechanically sorted to remove recyclable material and the remainder will be composted in an enclosed environment - well-screened from neighbours and with special filters to eliminate odours.

The composted end product will be able to be used to restore the landfill site.

The planning application for this waste treatment plant can be viewed by using the search facility under "Applications & Advice" in the planning pages and entering the application number 2008/0789/03.