Lincolnshire’s Energy from Waste facility in North Hykeham near Lincoln has reached its 10th operational anniversary, through which time it has reduced the amount of the county’s waste going to landfill by around 93 percent, converting it into enough energy to power 27,000 homes across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council is eleven years into its 25-year partnership with plant operator FCC Environment which operates the plant for residual waste collection, treatment and transfer in the county.
The plant’s General Manager Juergen Schaper said: “We are extremely proud to have reached this very significant milestone. Ten years diverting waste from landfill and converting to energy is a real achievement for Lincolnshire. We are focused on continuing to exceed performance expectations in our successful partnership with the Council as we carry on creating valuable electricity, jobs and community support for the county.”
Andy Gutherson, the council’s Executive Director of Place said: “We look forward to our future as we process more waste and generate more energy for the benefit of the local community.
“The presence of the facility in the county has a number of positive implications: reducing non-recyclable waste being sent to landfill by around 93 percent and producing power to supply 27,000 homes. These environmentally-friendly and cost-saving results make a real difference for the people of Lincolnshire.”
Lincolnshire County Council and FCC Environment work with the seven district councils across Lincolnshire, which make the initial collection of both recyclable and non-recyclable waste from the county’s homes and businesses, diverting only the non-recyclable waste from landfill to the EfW plant for processing.
The site is equipped to treat up to 190,000 tonnes of residual waste each year, converting it into 13.1 MW of electricity. The EfW plant has now processed 1.780 million tonnes of waste, producing 830,000 MWh of energy for the National Grid to provide essential power for more than 27,000 homes throughout the county.
In addition to the energy produced, the waste treatment process has also produced around 215,000 tonnes of incinerator bottom ash. This material contains metal which can be extracted and aggregate which can be used in the construction of roads.
As well as the environmental benefits for Lincolnshire, the North Hykeham plant is expected to save the county council about £30m over the lifetime of the contract by drastically cutting the waste which would have otherwise gone to landfill from 180,000 tonnes per annum to only 12,000 tonnes.
