FCC Environment Opens New UK MRF

FCC Environment says it has officially opened a £3.2 million ($4.9 million) materials recovery facility (MRF) in Alfreton, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, that has been built on the site of a former waste transfer station. When fully operational the facility will be able to process up to 80,000 metric tons per year of recyclables from commercial and industrial sources in the East Midlands region.

According to FCC, the facility has been assembled within its existing transfer station, but has been transformed into a more updated MRF. Along with equipment to process recyclables, the facility will be producing refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The RDF will both be consumed domestically and exported to other European countries

A spokesperson for FCC Environment UK, part of the larger Spain-based FCC Group, says the company is considering building additional MRFs that will incorporate recycling and RDF operations in one building to reduce the overall amount of material that is sent to landfills.

The company expects that slightly more than 50 percent of the material coming into the plant will be converted into refuse-derived fuel after the other fractions are sorted into ferrous and nonferrous metals, paper, cardboard, plastic and other recyclables.

“The establishment of the Alfreton MRF closes the loop for our business waste infrastructure in the East Midlands,” says Richard Jeffery, national sales manager at FCC Environment. “We can now offer to our customers a service which incorporates business waste collection, recycling and the production of energy from residual waste material.”

The location also has planning consent for a wind turbine to provide renewable energy for consumption on site, according to FCC.