Biffa to close 13 million Trafford Park MRF

Waste management firm Biffa is set to close its state-of-the art 13 million Trafford Park materials recycling facility (MRF) next month, with material set to be sorted in the West Midlands and North London instead.

The facility, which opened in January 2010, is due to close its doors on June 14, with falling waste arisings caused by the economic downturn among the reasons for the plants closure, a factor that industry sources say is affecting several MRFs across the UK.

Biffa has also faced stiff competition from other MRFs in the region, with waste management firm Viridor opening several facilities under its contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority and paper manufacturer UPM opening a 17 million MRF in Shotton, North Wales in July 2011.

Of the 30 staff employed at the site, some are expected to be transferred to other Biffa facilities in the area, although a number of employees have been made redundant.

The company says the closure of the MRF will not affect the service that it offers to clients in the North West. The plant sorts mixed dry recyclables from municipal and commercial & industrial clients from across the region. These include local authorities such as Barrow council and Wirral borough council.

Materials sorted at the 208,000 sq ft plant include plastics, aluminium, steel, paper and cardboard.

Service

Following the closure of the Trafford facility, material from the North West will be transferred to either Biffas large scale MRF at Aldridge in the West Midlands, roughly 80 miles away, or to its MRF at Edmonton, North London, which is around 200 miles from the Trafford site. The company says that some of the material will also be sorted at to a smaller site in the Irlam area of Manchester.

A spokesman for Biffa said: After a review of our recycling capacity requirements in the North West we have decided to close operations at Biffas Trafford Park MRF recycling plant, with services transferred to similar facilities at Aldridge, Edmonton and new smaller facility at Irlam. Employees at Trafford will be re-deployed locally where possible and new jobs are being created at the other sites as a result of the decision.

Biffa originally unveiled plans for the MRF in July 2009, describing the facility as the first in a new generation of MRFs including state-of-the-art equipment, configuration and design. The facility uses a combination of mechanical and optical sorting systems and has been designed to operate with high levels of automation and efficiency, which Biffa claims made it among the most advanced plants in the UK.