Taken from the Journal Live
A factory on an industrial estate on the north bank of the Tees is now the destination for thousands of tonnes of rubbish from homes in Northumberland and North Tyneside.
The Energy from Waste (EfW) plant is what used to be known as an incinerator. But bosses at Sita UK, which runs the plant, stress it is about more than burning rubbish.
Ian Haswell, regional manager for Sita Tees Valley said: “We’re not an incinerator – that is a very small part of the process. In effect we’re a power plant generating electricity for 36,000 households.”
Waste - we can't get away from it, despite the best efforts of recycling centre's and manufactures alike. At least this little lot isn't going into landfill.
Read the full story (click here) on how Sita Tees Valley are taking the heat from the incineration process and water from the Tees to produce steam which powers turbines - the water is reclaimed from the steam and the ash is sent to be processed for aggregate use.
photo credit: nicholas smale
The Tees and the Tyne are about 30 miles apart so if the rubbish is coming from Northumberland and North Tyneside, it is travelling a minimum of 30 miles AFTER collection, just to get to the plant. How much energy is being used to do that?
ReplyDeleteHi Ian and thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteThe answer to your question is I don't honestly know but lets assume the rubbish might have travelled a similar distance to a land fill site.
At least this way we do get some kind of return and it's not just being buried in the ground.
Regards - Jonathan