Town Pins Down Deal for Recycling Nappies
Published Date: 2010-02-15
Express & Star
February 15, 2010
Sally Walmsley
The country’s first nappy recycling plant is on course to open in West Bromwich this year, bosses announced today.
Canadian firm Knowaste has started preparatory work on the £12 million centre in Kelvin Way, after the scheme was moved from the originally proposed site in Tyseley, south east Birmingham. The recycling centre will be followed by a £20 million power plant being built by Verus Energy to turn the nappy waste into energy, earmarked to go up within the next two to three years on land alongside Kelvin Way.
Bosses at Knowaste today said that they were expected to have their plant up and running by the end of the year.
The firm also hopes to build another four around the country.
Constructuion work on the 67,500 sq ft site is expected to take between six and eight months and once open it will handle up to 36,000 tonnes of nappies per yar.
Roy Brown, President and CEO of Knowaste, said: “Building work is currently in progress on the site in West Browmwich and the plant will be fully operational towards the end of the third quarter of 2010.
Knowaste is fully committed to the plans to opent he UK’s first nappy recycling plant and is progressing well”.
Up to 15 lorries and smaller vans are expected to make deliveries to and from the site every day and the company is hoping to set up partnerships with companies around Europe.
A contract has already been agreed with a specialist nappy collection contractor, Alpha Wastecare, and Mr. Brown said they already had significant interest and were in advanced discussions from other waste collection business, washroom amangement companies and local authorities.
For more information of Knowaste or SmallPlanet visit: www.knowaste.com and www.smallplanetbuilding.com.
For more information please contact Kathryn Williams on 01179 073 400 or email: Kathryn.Williams@jbp.co.uk.
Nappies Plant is Now On Course
Published Date: 2010-02-15
Express & Star
February 15, 2010
Sally Walmsley
The country’s first nappy recycling plant is on course to open in West Bromwich this year, bosses announced today.
Canadian firm Knowaste has started preparatory work on the £12 million centre in Kelvin Way, after the scheme was moved from the originally proposed site in Tyseley, south east Birmingham.
The recycling centre will be followed by a £20 million power plant being built by Verus Energy to turn the nappy waste into energy, earmarked to go up within the next two to three years on land alongside Kelvin Way.
Bosses at Knowaste today said that they were expected to have their plant up and running by the end of the year.
The firm also hopes to build another four around the country.
Constructuion work on the 67,500 sq ft site is expected to take between six and eight months and once open it will handle up to 36,000 tonnes of nappies per yar.
Roy Brown, President and CEO of Knowaste, said: “Building work is currently in progress on the site in West Browmwich and the plant will be fully operational towards the end of the third quarter of 2010. Knowaste is fully committed to the plans to opent he UK’s first nappy recycling plant and is progressing well”.
Up to 15 lorries and smaller vans are expected to make deliveries to and from the site every day. For more information of Knowaste or SmallPlanet visit: www.knowaste.com and www.smallplanetbuilding.com.
For more information please contact Kathryn Williams on 01179 073 400 or email: Kathryn.Williams@jbp.co.uk.
Nappy Recycling to Become a Reality
Published Date: 2010-01-26
Waste Matters
January 26, 2010
Ernestine Allen
A recent survey (Ask-A-Mum Survey 2008), revealed that 95% of parents want nappy recycling as part of their standard household waste collection and 93% of mums and dads feel a degree of uneasiness when throwing nappies out with the rest of their waste. Their feelings are not unfounded. More than three billion nappies are thrown away in the UK year after year. Described as the “convenience curse” of the 21st century, until now, disposable nappies have been one of the few remaining household items that go straight to landfills or incinerators.
In the UK around 8 million disposable nappies are used every day and one baby’s disposable nappies fill 40 black sacks in a year. Approximately 1 million tonnes of Associated Hygiene Products such as nappies, adult incontinence and feminine hygiene products are produced per annum. This means that all these nappies end up in landfill. Disposable nappies may take up to 500 years to decompose, essentially making them present in our landfills forever. In addition to this, the soiling in them means that as they rot, methane, a greenhouse gas,about twice as bad as C02, is released contributing to global warming. This means that the disposable nappies used in a child’s life could produce up to 630 kg of methane.
The use of disposable nappies has increased over the past 20 years as a result of their convenience. Because of the convenience argument, most parents have opted to use dispoable nappies over cloth/real nappies which are being sent straight to landfill. Many councils offer a subsidised real nappy service but statistics show that a staggering 690,000 tonnes of nappy waste are still sent to landfilleach year. According to the Environment Agency, the carbon footprint of recycling disposable nappies is not yet known. Although the process diverts nappies fromlandfill, there are still issues about the energy used to recycle them. However, due to the landfill restrictions in the UK, nappy recycling is a viable option until UK consumers change their behaviour and turn to waste reduction.
The UK’s first ever nappy recycling plant is set to open in West Browmwich in 2010. When up and running, theis unique solution will enable recycling of approximately 36,000 tonnes of the city’s nappies and other absorbent hygiene products including bedliners and incontinence products. The plastic recyclates from the process can then be recreated into a variety of products, including plastic cladding, bicycle helmets, plastic injection and extrusion products and roof tiles.
Roy Brown, President and Chief Executive of Knowaste Ltd said: “More than 750,000 tonnes of nappy waste is disposed of in the UK each year – a figure that not only illustrates the need to find an alternative to landfill, but also highlights the importance of developing alternative uses for post-consumer nappies. There is an obvious potential for synergy between the material waste produced by industry and householders and the raw materials required to produce construction products. We see this as a win-win opportunity for consumers and industry.”
For more information of Knowaste or SmallPlanet visit: www.knowaste.com and www.smallplanetbuilding.com.
For more information please contact Kathryn Williams on 01179 073 400 or email: Kathryn.Williams@jbp.co.uk.
Nappy Power Plant to Create New Jobs
Published Date: 2010-02-03
February 3, 2010
Chris Moriarty
Sandwell Express & Star Energy
Firm Unveils £20m Scheme for Site Newar Recycling Centre A £20 million power plant that would turn nappy waste into energy is set to be built in West Bromwich, alongside a new £12m nappy recycling centre.
London-based Verus Energy has revealed plans to build a power plant in Kelvin Way, creating dozens of new jobs for the area. It will be based near to a pioneering Knowaste recycling centre which, it has emerged, will now be built on a site off Kelvin Way after bosses ran into planning difficulties on the originally proposed site in Tysely, Birmingham.
Preparatory work by the Canadian firm, Knowaste, has begun on the site and trials could start in April, if building work is completed to test the facilities.
Hundreds of thougsands of tons of used nappies will be processed to prevent them going to landfill.
The company will work in partnership with Verus Energy which will use waste processed by Knowaste to generate heat and power energy at its neighbouring plant.
The Verus base would be build on land on the site of Giffords Pallets, which will continue to operate as normal.
The energy-generating plant could take up to three years to build but the recycling centre could be up and running within months as planning permission for recycling was already in place at the site.
Supply
Verus Energy director Tim Jervis said they were developing the project with Knowaste to help reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and cut down on waste going to landfill.
“Knowaste would supply us with whatever they can’t recycle and would otherwise go into landfill, and we are saying we can get some energy out of it and stop the methane going tinto the atmosphere.” He said.
“Its going to be two to three years until the site is operational.
“It would be an employer but I wouldn’t like to say how many jobs yet at this stage, but it will provide sustainable, local jobs, as these plants have a life of at least 25 years.”
The firm is planning similar plants elsewhere in the country including another in the East Midlands but the West Bromwich branch is expected to be one of the first to open.
The Knowaste centre would be the first of its kind to open in the UK. For more information please contact Kathryn Williams on 01179 073 400 or email: Kathryn.Williams@jbp.co.uk.
Plant to Recycle Nappies
Published Date: 2010-02-03
February 3, 2010
Express & Star
A £20 million power plant that would turn nappy waste into energy is set to be built in West Bromwich, alongside a new £12m nappy recycling centre.
London-based Verus Energy has revealed plans to build a power plant in Kelvin Way, creating dozens of new jobs for the area.
It will be based near to a pioneering Knowaste recycling centre which, it has emerged, will now be built on a site off Kelvin Way after bosses ran into planning difficulties on the originally proposed site in Tysely, Birmingham.
Preparatory work by the Canadian firm, Knowaste, has begun on the site and trials could start in April, if building work is completed to test the facilities.
Hundreds of thougsands of tons of used nappies will be processed to prevent them going to landfill.
The company will work in partnership with Verus Energy which will use waste processed by Knowaste to generate heat and power energy at its neighbouring plant.
For more information please contact Kathryn Williams on 01179 073 400 or email: Kathryn.Williams@jbp.co.uk.
