RECYCLING superplant plans for Coventry and Warwickshire are a step closer to reality.
The deal has finally been sealed between the eight regional authorities now in partnership to run a Material Recycling Facility, with artificial intelligence at its heart, on the edge of Coventry.
The new city-based company, known as Sherbourne Recycling Limited, is collectively owned by the authorities which include Coventry City Council, Rugby Borough Council, Stratford District Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Warwick District Council, among others, and will provide capital for the £58million project. Each partner will also commit to a long-term waste supply agreement to submit kerbside recycling.
The new design includes artificial intelligence and robotics, provided by manufacturer GMI (Machinex) Ltd, to achieve higher purity levels of recycled products, minimum human intervention and low grade plastics separation.
The superplant, which aims to process up to 175,000 tonnes of recycling a year, will allow councils to save money on the rising costs of sending recycled waste for processing at private sector facilities. It is also hoped a larger facility will accommodate third party recycling to generate more revenue.
Managing director Richard Dobbs said: “Over the last decade it has been increasingly challenging and expensive for local authorities to manage recyclate collected at the kerbside. By creating a partnership, we were able to develop the business case for a regional 175ktpa facility, and now with Machinex on board as our process equipment provider, we are really excited about being able to take greater control and push market boundaries.
“After months of hard work, this signifies a huge achievement for all involved in the project. With all contracts now in place we can begin the hard work of building the MRF of the future and creating our place in the market.”
The new facility will be located on four acres of former allotment land adjacent to the Energy from Waste facility operated by The Coventry & Solihull Waste Disposal Company.
Works are scheduled to begin in early summer, taking around 15 months for the initial building construction to be completed, ahead of the arrival of Machinex to install the waste processing equipment. The facility is expected to be fully operational by summer 2023.
