Viridor gets green light for Glasgow waste facility

The Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) will include mechanical biological treatment, anaerobic digestion and gasification technology, alongside a materials recycling facility.

It will form the centrepiece of Viridors 25-year waste treatment contract with the city council, which was signed in July 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The decision by Glasgows planning applications committee follows an application submitted in September 2012 by Viridor. Work on the facility will now commence in summer 2013 with completion expected in 2016.

Commenting on the planning decision, councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow city council, said: This is a great step forward for Glasgow on the road to becoming one of Europes most sustainable cities. Without this facility, we would not only be faced with the depressing prospect of piling millions of tonnes of waste into the ground over the coming years; but we would also pay through the nose to do it.

Our competitors – the likes of Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands have the highest recycling rates in Europe. It is no secret that they have achieved that by embracing a mix of modern, but proven, technologies that not only boost recycling but recover energy from what remains. That is an approach that has huge potential here in Glasgow. Our future is cleaner, more affordable and puts the citys waste to work for the benefit of its people.

Benefits

Viridor explained that the facility would align Glasgow with the Scottish Governments Zero Waste agenda and also provide a number of additional benefits. These include: producing enough energy to power 22,000 households and heat a further 8,000; creating 254 jobs; and, providing community benefits focused on employment and training, opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises, and a range of education benefits.

Steven Don, Scottish regional manager for Viridor, which is owned by the Pennon Group, welcomed the planning decision.

He said: I am delighted that planning has been secured for GRREC. The project will not only help move the city towards a zero waste economy, but will deliver world class next generation green infrastructure whilst reducing council tax payer exposure to costly landfill levies.

The impressive facility will transform the way in which the citys annual 200,000 tonnes of domestic green bin residual waste is managed as well as positioning Glasgow as a leading force in Scotland in the provision of a cleaner, greener strategy for transforming waste in line with other European cities.

According to Viridor, the company currently works with 96% of Scottish local authorities and many large Scottish businesses such as Scottish Power, RBS, BAE Systems and Coca Cola Enterprises.