Veolia Opens “State-of-the-Art” MRF in UK

The CP Group, headquartered in San Diego, has designed, manufactured and installed the material recovery facility (MRF) for Veolia in Gillmoss, Liverpool, U.K. The facility, which is capable of processing 85,000 tons per year, has been in operation since late 2011 and recently had its grand opening.

The facility processes a mix of household recyclables, including cardboard, paper, glass, cans, aluminum, mixed plastics and plastic bottles, collected from the Knowsley, Liverpool and St. Helens, U.K., households. The facility can process up to 250 tons per day of material.

The building combines high-tech sorting with the latest green construction techniques. A curved roof allows natural light into the building, and recycled materials were used in the construction of the building and its foundation.

George Morrison, CP Group project manager, says, “This is a truly unique recycling facility. The Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority have incorporated state-of-the-art recycling technology, eye-catching architecture and community education facilities into one attractive package.” 

CPME did the commissioning for the facility with the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, and CPME supports the facility with service and parts. CPME is a company formed in 2009 by CP and Ken Mills Engineering, a 50/50 owned company located in Rochdale, about 40 miles from the facility.

The single-stream system features a dual feed into a single line and includes equipment by CP Manufacturing—a two-deck OCCScreen, a three-deck Glass Breaker Screen and Glass Cleanup System, NEWScreen, VScreen, magnetic separators, an Accelerator Screen and an Air Drum Separator by CP’s partner Ken Mills Engineering.

The facility has two IPS balers—the multi-material two-Ram 1052, which has a patented pre-compression lid that increases the baler’s speed and tonnages, CP says. The facility also has an IPS Conquest™, a hinge-side auto-tie baler for baling all fibers. IPS Balers has been a division of the CP Group since 2006.

After the materials are separated and recovered at the facility, most of it is to be reprocessed into new products at secondary processing facilities, while some of the nonrecyclable waste is sent for energy conversion.

Morrison says, ”This is a facility that will serve the recycling needs of the Liverpool area for years to come as well as being a facility that the community can be very proud of. Every effort has been made to make sure that there is no negative impact on the surrounding community. Many locals that I spoke with were aware of the beautiful new building but had no idea that it contained a large scale recycling operation.”

Veolia leverages the Gillmoss facility as a learning center to help increase recycling rates in surrounding areas.

The facility features the “Recycling Discovery Centre," an education center for use by local schools and communities. The learning center allows visitors to see the sorting equipment in operation; the CCTV video cameras allow for close-up views of the system. Viewing platforms and an activity room with interactive displays about recycling teach visitors about the process and how they can help recycle more.